N Korea meet S Korea in soccer QF

Doha: In a politically charged showdown, North Korea will play South Korea in the football quarter-finals at the Asian Games.

The confrontation was set up on Wednesday when North Korea beat Japan 2-1 in a final round-robin game.

North and South Korea marched behind a united flag at the opening ceremonies last week and are discussing the possibility a unified team for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Defending champion Iran scored two late goals in a 2-0 win over India to top its group and book a quarter-finals showdown with China, a 2-1 winner over Oman in a spiteful match that produced nine cautions and two red cards.

The winners of the six groups and the best two runners-up qualified for the knock-out stage.

Iraq thrashed Malaysia 4-0 to qualify as one of the top two runners-up and next faces Uzbekistan. Host Qatar earned the other runner-up spot and meets Thailand.

Defeating Japan was a big hurdle for the North Koreans, whose fans raced down to the field to congratulate their team, lifting the players into the air.

The last time the Koreas played each other in football was in November 2005, and the North won 2-0 in Macau at the East Asian Games.

"Our last match against South Korea was a good match, and I hope the same result will be repeated this time," North Korea coach Ri Jong Man said.

"It would have been better if we had played South Korea in the finals. Unfortunately we are playing them in the quarter-finals."

On Wednesday, North Korea opened the scoring in the fourth minute when Hong Yong Jo made a free kick from just outside the penalty.

Japan's Yugo Ichiyangi tied it three minutes later with a header. Kim Yong Jun scored the winner 18 minutes into the second half.

"Our free kicks are very nice." Ri said. "It's a good opportunity and we practised free kicks a lot."

Three players received yellow cards - two from Japan and one from North Korea. Japan, which has sent a young and relatively inexperienced team to the games, conceded 19 fouls.

Ahmed Al Mukhaini gave Oman the lead over China with a 29th minute penalty, before Gao Lin equalized in the 42nd. Zheng Zhi converted Chinese penalty in the 55th minute to get the win.

Also on Wednesday Syria downed Pakistan 2-0 and Hong Kong sneaked past Maldives 1-0.