Socceroos held by Iraq, Japan beat Bahrain 2-0

Iraq picked up their first point in Group B of the third round of AFC Asian qualifiers for the 2012 London Olympics as Radhi Shenaishil’s side held Australia to a goalless draw at the Grand Hamad Stadium in the Qatari capital yesterday. The former Iraq international defender, who spent a significant amount of his playing career based in Qatar, was looking to inspire his team to victory following a 2-0 loss to Uzbekistan in their opening fixture while Aurelio Vidmar was hoping to improve on the Olyroos disappointing goalless draw against the UAE in Adelaide.Neither side was able to get in the score sheet in the first-half although the Olyroos were 2-0 up in the card count thanks to bookings for the Melbourne-based duo of Aziz Behich and Matthew Foschini, with Heart defender Behihic the first to enter referee Andre El Hadad’s notebook in the 28th minute before the Lebanese official cautioned Victory midfielder Foschini on the stroke of half-time.The second-half was an equally-frustrating affair for both sides as neither were able to break the deadlock although Iraq will be happy to have picked up their first point of the campaign.Meanwhile, Japan recorded their second successive 2-0 victory as Takashi Sekizuka’s side defeated Bahrain at the Manama National Stadium. Japan went into their second Group C fixture having won their opening match against Malaysia by an identical score line, while Bahrain were hoping home advantage would help them get their first points on the board having lost 3-1 to Syria in their opening game.And with two minutes to go before the break, Japan took the lead through Yuki Otsu who slid into the six-yard box to volley the ball into the net after Bahrain keeper Ebrahim Lutfalla had flapped at a corner kick.Lutfalla was beaten for a second time in the 67th minute when Keigo Higashi, who scored the opening goal in Japan’s opening win over Malaysia, swept the ball home after the Bahrain keeper had initially did well to save Naoki Yamada’s effort.