Shocks aplenty but Asia again unrepresented at business end

DOHA : Asia will again be unrepresented in the World Cup quarter-finals but several upset wins and vibrant displays have many in the continent feeling that the gap to the best teams is closing.

The first World Cup in the Arab world was also the second held entirely on the globe's most populous continent and heavyweights Argentina, Germany, Spain, Portugal and Denmark all tasted defeat at the hands of Asian confederation teams.

Japan, South Korea and Australia made it out of the group stage for a record representation in the last 16 but none were able emulate the 2002 Taegeuk Warriors and the North Korean side of 1966 by making the quarter-finals.

They did not bow out meekly, though, with Australia taking Argentina down to the wire in a 2-1 defeat, Japan losing on penalties to Croatia after a 1-1 draw, and South Korea battling until the end despite conceding four early goals to Brazil.

"Brazil deserved to win ... but it has been extraordinary what has happened with Korean football over the last four years," South Korea coach Paulo Bento said after the 4-1 defeat.

"We were very bold in how we approached the game today - even though we were low on energy we were loyal to our style to the end and I was very proud of that."

The one major disappointment was the performance of host nation and Asian champions Qatar, who looked out of their depth throughout and were the only one of the six teams from the confederation to fail to register a win.

Their neighbours Saudi Arabia stood the football world on its head, however, when they came from behind to beat Lionel Messi's Argentina 2-1 in their opening match in what statisticians Gracenote credited as the biggest shock in World Cup history.

The Saudis were unable to capitalise on that