by sportswriters Cao Jianjie and Li Jia
MIAMI, June 25 (Xinhua) -- Asian teams have shown their strength at the World Cup, with Japan, Iran, South Korea, Saudi Arabia and Australia all remaining in contention as the group stage nears its conclusion.
Japan is the continent's highest ranked team at No. 16 and Hajime Moriyasu's side has not disappointed. A spirited 2-2 opening draw with the Netherlands in Dallas was followed by a 4-0 rout of Tunisia in Guadalupe, putting the team on the verge of the knockout stage.
Daichi Kamada and Ayase Ueda have been the leading scorers with two goals while a defense led by Hiroki Ito and goalkeeper Zion Suzuki has proven difficult for opposition to break down.
Japan captain Ko Itakura said the team has hopes to advance far beyond the next round.
"Our goal is not just to get out of the group," he said after the match against Tunisia. "We are aiming to win the World Cup. That has been very clear since the start of our preparations."
Another team looking to progress is Iran, which started the tournament with draws against New Zealand and Belgium.
Despite remaining undefeated, Amir Ghalenoei's side needs to win its final group stage match against Egypt on Friday to advance.
"We came into the World Cup under the worst possible conditions," Ghalenoei told reporters after the clash with Belgium in Los Angeles.
"We had two great games without losing. Our players have given everything."
South Korea began with a 2-1 win over the Czech Republic but missed the chance to secure its place in the round of 32 with a 1-0 defeat to South Africa in Guadalupe on Thursday.
Hong Myung-bo's side now faces an anxious wait to see if it progresses as one of the best third-placed teams.
"Ultimately, it comes down to me," Hong said after the loss to South Africa. "I guess I made the wrong decisions and that was the reason why we had a bad result. Nothing more, nothing less."
Saudi Arabia is another team that still has an outside hope of reaching the next phase.
A first-up draw with Uruguay was followed by a 4-0 loss to European champion Spain and the team must win its final group match against Cabo Verde on Friday to stay alive in the competition.
"I'm proud of everything the players do every day. I am not going to lose my pride in the players after a poor result," Saudi Arabia manager Georgios Donis said after the Spain defeat.
"I've seen games at the World Cup that have ended 5-1 and 6-0. We are here to take the criticism, but I also expect all those that criticize us to be realists as well."
Australia was another team that showed the Asian confederation's quality with a 2-0 opening win against Turkey.
Goalkeeper Patrick Beach made eight saves while Nestory Irankunda and Connor Metcalfe scored for the Socceroos.
"We're all working together every day and we can see the quality of these boys," Australia manager Tony Popovic told reporters. "They're nowhere near their ceiling because they're a young group with no experience at a World Cup, very limited experience playing for their national team," he said.
Despite its elimination, Qatar showed tenacity to earn a 1-1 draw with Switzerland in their first match before losing to Canada and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Iraq, Jordan and Uzbekistan are yet to pick up a point but remain a mathematical chance to make the round of 32 if they win their final group games.
