Asian Cup contenders wrap

With the countdown to Australia hosting the 2015 AFC Asian Cup on in earnest, all but one of January's participants were in action during the recent international friendly window. And it wasn't just the Socceroos who couldn't win this week.

Japan 0 – 4 Brazil

The Socceroos' last chance to impress before the Asian Cup will be a repeat of the last tournament's final when the Aussies play Japan on 18 November. The Blue Samurai may be the reigning Asian champions but they were outclassed in their recent outing albeit against a resurgent Brazil. Neymar was the destroyer in a match played in Singapore. The 22-year-old netted all four goals to bring his international career tally to 40 goals from 58 internationals.

Jordan 1 – 1 Kuwait

The Socceroos will open the 2015 Asian Cup against Kuwait in Melbourne and the world's No.124 ranked side proved they'll be no easy-beats in their recent matches against Jordan. A goal deep into injury time from Kuwait ensured the side's finished all-square, giving Jorvan Viera's side two positive results in the space of four days having beaten Jordan earlier in the week.

Oman 0 – 3 Uruguay

Also in Australia's Group A for the January tournament are Oman who suffered their second defeat of the international break when they went down 3-0 at home to Uruguay. World Cup villain Luis Suarez was back in his national colours and scored a second-half brace to hand the South Americans the win. Oman, who meet the Socceroosin Sydney, had earlier lost to Costa Rica.

Korea Republic 1 – 3 Costa Rica

Another Asian Cup contender to suffer at the hands of the hugely impressive Costa Ricans was Korea Republic, who succumbed to a 3-1 defeat on home soil. Lee Dong-gook, the leading scorer in the K-League, cancelled out the World Cup quarter-finalists' opener on the stroke of half-time but the hosts  conceded twice more in the second-half. The Socceroos play Korea Republic in Brisbane, in a match that will likely decide who tops the group.

In other results Saudi Arabia and Lebanon played out a 1-1 draw, while Bahrain and Iraq played out a goalless stalemate. Uzbekistan showed the way the penetrate the UAE defence, netting four times without conceding in their impressive win. 

Meanwhile China proved they could yet be a dark horse for the title with a 2-1 win over Paraguay.