Doha, Jan 10 (DPA) Both favourites struggled in their opening Group B matches at the Asian Cup Sunday as Saudi Arabia were beaten 2-1 by Syria, while Japan needed a last-gasp equaliser to escape with a 1-1 draw against Jordan.
In the later game played in the Al Rayyan stadium, Syria, who have been knocked out in the first round in all four previous appearances at the championships, secured only their second victory against Saudi Arabia in 23 matches.
Abdelrazaq Al Hussain scored both goals for his side, putting them ahead in the 37th minute with a wonderful volley from the edge of the area after a poor clearance.
In the 59th minute Saudi Arabia equalised through Taisir Al-Jassim, who scored with a header from the edge of the area after goalkeeper Musab Balhous punched a corner out into the centre of the field.
Just three minutes later though, Al Hussain scored his second with another deflected shot after the Saudis had failed to clear a ball.
Yasser Al-Qahtani came agonizingly close to an injury time equaliser for Saudi Arabia, who have won the tournament three times, but Balhous dived to his right to deny the striker with a breathtaking save.
In the earlier game goalkeeper Amer Shafi was the hero for his side as Jordan held three-time champions Japan to a 1-1 draw.
Hasan Abdel Fattah gave the Arab nation the lead just before the break, before Maya Yoshida levelled with a header two minutes into second-half injury-time.
Had it not been for Shafi, who pulled off a number of fantastic saves and was named as the player of the match, his side would have lost the game.
Not surprisingly, Japanese coach Alberto Zaccheroni was not satisfied with his team's performance.
"We controlled the game for 90 minutes and they played very defensively. We had virtually all the ball possession," he said.
"I knew it would be a very tough game, but we made it even more difficult for ourselves by not scoring."
Japan, whose last defeat was against the Netherlands at the World Cup in June last year (although they went out on penalties against Paraguay in the second) and beat a full-strength Argentina in October, completely dominated the first half.
In front of some 6,000 spectators in the 12,500-seater Qatar SC stadium, the three-time Asian Cup champions failed to capitalise on their chances as Shafi kept their forwards at bay.
Completely against the run of play Jordan took the lead a minute from the break after Hasan Abdel Fattah's shot from just inside the penalty area took a wicked deflection off Yoshida and went into goal.
Japan threw everything forward in the second half, with Shinji Kagawa, who has taken the Bundesliga by storm in his first season in Germany, controlling the game from his position behind the forward line.
Jordan, who prior to this tournament had qualified only once for the showpiece of Asian football, managed to withhold the pressure their opponents threw at them until the 92nd minute when Kagawa played a corner to Hasebe and his cross found Yoshida in space.
The goal left Jordanian coach Adnan Hamad in two minds.
"Of course we were hoping to win the game, but I am also happy with the result. A draw against Japan is good," he said.
"The goal was not only bad for us, it also left me sad."
He said his team was also weakened through the injury midway through the second half of captain Hatem Aqel.
"He is being examined by our medical team and I do not know what his condition is at the moment," he said.
The other two teams in the group, Saudi Arabia and Syria, clash in the later game Sunday.