Sports Jan. 29, 2009 - 06:16AM JST ( 2 )

DUBAI —

Pim Verbeek’s rookie Australian side opened its 2011 Asian Cup qualifying campaign with a gritty 0-0 draw against Indonesia on Wednesday but triple champion Japan slumped to a 1-0 defeat in Bahrain.

In other action, Peter Reid’s Thailand held Ali Daei’s formidable Iran, also three-time champion, to a 0-0 draw in Bangkok while Syria, which is in Group D along with China, kept up its perfect record with a second win, a 2-0 success in Lebanon.

Playing in Jakarta’s imposing Gelora Bung Karno Stadium, Australia, made up of A-League players, saw Indonesian striker Budi Sudarsano miss from close range on 62 minutes.

Archie Thompson and Paul Reid went close for Australia, but the breakthrough never came.

Oman, buoyed by its recent maiden Gulf Cup success, went top of Group B with a 1-0 win in Kuwait with Hassan Rabea scoring in the 63rd minute.

Australia is third in the table behind Oman which has four points. Second-placed Indonesia has two points, but the Socceroos have a game in hand.

Japan, Asian champion in 1992, 2000 and 2004, went down to a 1-0 defeat in Manama with Salman Isa scoring the winner in the 25th minute to give Bahrain its second successive victory.

It was Japan’s first defeat following a 2-1 victory over Yemen at home while Bahrain, which leads Group A, won its opener against Hong Kong 3-1.

“Our performance was not good and we will try to bounce back in the next matches,” said Japan coach Takeshi Okada. “I didn’t expect to lose as we know that we are a good side.”

For Japan, playing without its Europe-based stars, captain and defender Yuji Nakazawa was in the thick of the action but with Okazaki Shinji and Tamada Keiji off color most of their moves lacked cohesion.

It was Bahrain’s second victory over Japan in seven encounters and ended a poor run of straight defeats in World Cup qualifying last year.

Wire reports