Okazaki: Scored decisive goal Asian 2010 World Cup qualifying results:
Qatar 0 Australia 0
Uzbekistan 0 Japan 1
North Korea 0 Iran 0
UAE 0 South Korea 2 Also see Football on Sky
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Japan, South Korea and Australia have become the first teams to qualify for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
2002 co-hosts Japan and South Korea clinched their places in the finals with wins over Uzbekistan and United Arab Emirates respectively, while Australia drew with Qatar.
In Group A, Japan's Shinji Okazaki scored the only goal of the game in Uzbekistan after just nine minutes.
Takeshi Okada's side finished the match with 10 men after Makoto Hasebe was sent off a minute from time, but Japan hung on to book their ticket.
Australia joined Japan in guaranteeing qualification for the World Cup next year after playing out a 0-0 draw away to Qatar.
Uzbekistan's prospects of finishing third in Group A to claim a play-off spot hinge on them winning their final game and hoping Bahrain slip up.
In Group B, South Korea made it through to the finals again after scoring twice in the first half to claim a 2-0 win away to UAE.
Park Chu-young opened the scoring after just five minutes and Ki Sung-yueng netted on 37 minutes, while UAE had Hilal Saeed sent off in the last minute.
North Korea had briefly moved level on points with their neighbours after a 0-0 home draw with Iran.
The visitors came closest to scoring in the first half when Fulham midfielder Andranik Teymourian struck the post.
North Korea were the stronger team in the second period and Iran keeper Seyed Rehmati had to pull off fine saves to deny Hong Yong-jo and Pak Nam-chol.
Australia, Japan, South Korea and the Netherlands have all qualified for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Australia drew 0–0 with Qatar, Japan defeated Uzbekistan 1–0, South Korea qualified by defeating the United Arab Emirates 2–0 and a 2–1 win over Iceland saw the Netherlands qualify. All four countries have two games to play in qualifying.
Mark Schwarzer, Australian  goalkeeper. 
"They put us under pressure," Australia coach Pim Verbeek said of his team's games. "We thought they could only do that for 20 minutes and they did it for almost 90 so I have to congratulate the young players from Qatar. They made it very difficult for us."

In a statement emailed out to the media, Football Federation Australia CEO Ben Buckley said, "It's another first for Australian football, and it's come off the back of a comprehensive qualification pathway which began in February last year. Qualifying this time around, with the travel and match conditions the team has experienced, is a true measure of the progress football has made. While 'do or die' results, such as the famous Uruguay game four years ago are exciting, a qualifying campaign such as this one through the Asian zone is a tough test."

FIFA named the Japan-Uzbekistan game as match of the day. Japanese forward Shinji Okazaki scored the only goal of that match, securing Japan's place at the World Cup.

"This away game was really tough but I'm really happy, because I'd only scored in friendly games previously," Okazaki said. "This time, I feel like I did very well for the Japanese team.

"Japan are a big team — both on and off the field — who have become a major force in world football. We are delighted that they today became the first team to qualify for the 2010 FIFA World Cup," Danny Jordaan, World Cup organising committee chief, said.

South Korea opened the scoring in there match with the UAE through Park Chu-young after five minutes. Ki Sung-yueng sealed qualification for the Koreans on 37 minutes.

The Netherlands scored their two goals in the first ten minutes. Nigel de Jong scored after eight minutes and Mark van Bommel scored on 15 minutes.