BERLIN: The World Cup knock-out stage will be without any Asian team. South Korea, Japan, Saudi Arabia and Iran all failed to clear the first hurdle, crashing out after the end of the group stage.

Australia may be counted as the last Asian team left in the tournament, since it had joined the Asian Football Confederation before the World Cup.

But in strict terms, it is not an Asian team, at least at the 2006 World Cup, as it qualified by beating Uruguay on penalties in a play-off as an Oceania nation.

So the Asian campaign has come to an early end at the tournament.

High expectations

Expectations had been running high for South Korea, the 2002 World Cup semifinalist, but its 0-2 loss to Switzerland in the final group match on Friday scuttled its bid to repeat the glory.

South Korea did notch its first ever World Cup victory on foreign soil against Togo, but the team's record of never qualifying for the second round in a World Cup outside of Asia remained intact.

The South Korean players complained about the refereeing in the game, arguing a penalty should have been awarded for a handball in the box in the first half of the match against Switzerland and were upset that Alexander Frei was not ruled offside on Switzerland's second goal.

But that is a part of the game, and South Korea had also benefited from some controversial refereeing in the 2002 World Cup when the co-host historically broke into the semifinals.

Japan fails

Japan, the other co-host of the 2002 World Cup, was also consigned to an early plane back home in the wake of a crushing 4-1 defeat by world champion Brazil.

The writing had been on the wall for Japan when it lost 1-3 to Australia in the opening match, losing three goals in a row in the last 10 minutes of the match.

It was then involved in a goalless draw with Croatia in the second match.

``There is some way to go before we can be equal to the great powers in the game,'' said Japan's Brazilian coach Zico. ``Australia and Croatia both sent in high crosses which we couldn't handle. It is something Japan will have to improve on.

``We have to compete with the same physical players that are a factor at the World Cup and we need the stamina and physical framework to match them,'' Zico added.

Lack of experience

Saudi Arabia crashed out of the World Cup following its 1-0 loss against Spain in Kaiserlautern, failing to make it into the second round for the third straight tournament.

Saudi Arabia coach Marcos Paqueta said that the lack of international experience was one of the main reasons the team didn't go far at the World Cup.

``Besides Italy, we're probably the only team here whose players play only at home. We came to learn and we have improved. We have to bring international football closer to home. Saudi Arabia players are highly regarded in Asia, but its not enough. It's different when you have experience playing in Europe,'' Paqueta said.

Injury problems

Unlike Saudi Arabia, Iran boasted some Europe-based players, but they had been plagued by injuries and failed to reach their full form at the World Cup.

Such players as Bayern Munich playmaker Ali Karimi, midfielder Mehdi Mahdavikia, Kaiserlautern defender Ferydoon Zandi and Hannover forward Vahid Hashemian all failed to shine, leaving coach Branco Ivankovic little choice, but to introduce young and untried players as their replacements.

Following Iran's failure to qualify for the second rounds in its third World Cup appearance since 1978, Mohammed Dadkan, the head of the country's football federation, was fired. Ivankovic had also announced he would step down after his contract with the federation expires on July 1. — Xinhua

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