Everton midfielder Tim Cahill marked his return to World Cup qualifying with the first of Australia's four goals against Qatar, and Manchester United Star Park Ji-sung scored in a similar rout for South Korea.

Australia took top spot in Group A with six points following a 4-0 win over Qatar after the start of the fourth-round Asian qualifying match was delayed a half hour due to a tropical lightning storm in Brisbane.

Uzbekistan helped the Australians keep the two-point cushion by scoring first and then holding Japan to a 1-1 draw at Saitama later yesterday.

South Korea had a 4-1 win over the United Arab Emirates to take a share of top spot in Group B ahead of the later match between North Korea and Iran.

With two automatic spots at the 2010 tournament in South Africa up for grabs in each of the five-team groups, the UAE is all but out of contention following three straight losses - two at home.

Uzbekistan risked a similar situation after losing away to Qatar and at home to Australia, but its rousing draw at Saitama kept it in contention. And made things difficult for teams traveling to Tashkent.

Australia captain Lucas Neill said his team's away win over the Uzbeks puts the Socceroos in prime position to advance.

He said Australia deserved to be considered favorite to top the group, but needed to maintain its momentum with two away matches coming up.

Cahill, who was sidelined for six months with a broken foot and only returned for Everton recently, opened the scoring in ninth minute.

He was fouled in the area seven minutes later and Brett Emerton converted the resulting penalty, the first of his two goals of the match.

His next was in the 59th minute and rangy striker Josh Kennedy, who contributed in two other goals, headed in the fourth in the 76th minute.

In Saitama, Japan coach Takeshi Okada remonstrated with his team for wasting its opportunities. "We wanted to get another goal, but there is a long way to go yet in the qualifiers and we just have to look ahead to the next game and do our best," Okada said. "It's a disappointing result but the players did well to get a goal."

Competition is tight in Group B, with South Korea joining Saudi Arabia and North Korea on four points.

Lee Keun-ho ran on to a through pass from Lee Young-pyo to fire past Majed Naser in the UAE goal after 20 minutes. Park doubled the lead five minutes later.

UAE pulled a goal back in the second half but Lee sealed the win with his second with 10 minutes remaining and Kwak Tae-hwi headed a late fourth.

(Agencies via Shanghai Daily October 16, 2008)