Japan End Qatar`s World Cup Hopes After 1-1 Draw

The visitors needed to win to keep alive their hopes of qualifying for the World Cup via a playoff spot.

Japan ended Qatar's faint hopes of a place at the 2010 World Cup with a 1-1 home draw in an Asian qualifier on Wednesday.

The Japanese had already booked a spot in the South Africa tournament by beating Uzbekistan 1-0 away last weekend.

Qatar needed to win to keep alive their hopes of qualifying for the World Cup for the first time via a playoff spot.

Japan went in front after just three minutes in Yokohama courtesy of an own goal from Ahmed Ali Albinali but the Qataris equalised through an Ali Yahya penalty in the 53rd minute.

Japan coach Takeshi Okada, banned from the bench for the match after a touchline outburst in Tashkent, apologised to the home fans in a post-match ceremony.

"I deeply apologise for failing to win," Okada said with a deep bow. "I didn't use the players correctly and we need to put it right for our last game against Australia."

Japan playmaker Shunsuke Nakamura was similarly critical of the team's display.

"We wasted a lot of energy tonight by making things too difficult," the midfielder said. "We wore ourselves out and still have a lot of areas to improve on."

South Korea and Australia have already qualified for the World Cup with one automatic spot remaining for Asian sides.

Japan play Australia in Melbourne in their final Group One fixture on June 17.

The Socceroos lead the group with 17 points from seven matches with Japan on 15.