Ismail Abdullatif scored twice and Hussain Salman and Abdulla Fatadi got one each at Manama, four days after a 1-0 loss to New Zealand in Wellington ended Bahrain's chance of qualifying for a first World Cup.

The win moved Bahrain to the top of Group A with Japan in Asian Cup qualifying, and Macala said it eased his concerns about how the Bahrain squad would recover.

"The win was important in order to continue at the top of the group and to avoid any problems that we could face in the remaining three matches that we have left in the qualifying campaign," he said. "This win will definitely help lift the spirits."

Bahrain finished fifth in Asian World Cup qualifying, earning a spot in the inter-continental playoff against Oceania champion New Zealand for a place at South Africa 2010.

Japan, Australia, South Korea and North Korea all advanced automatically to the World Cup through Asian qualifying.

South Korea also has already secured a place at the 2011 Asian Cup in Qatar.

Japan had a 4-0 win at Hong Kong on Wednesday to move to nine points in Group A. The top two teams in each of the five qualifying groups earn places at the 2011 Asian Cup, joining the top three teams from the 2007 edition _ defending champion Iraq, Saudi Arabia and South Korea.

Syria already has enough points from Group D to secure a spot at Doha.

The winners of the 2008 (India) and 2010 editions of the AFC Challenge Cup also advance.

Makoto Hasebe opened the scoring in Hong Kong with his first international goal and a Hisato Sato header gave the Japanese a 2-0 halftime lead. Shunsuke Nakamura and Shinji Okazaki added second-half goals.

"I am satisfied that we were able to play well in our final match of this year," Japan coach Takeshi Okada said.

Syria was held to a scoreless draw at home by 10-man Vietnam, giving it 10 competition points and a four-point cushion over second-place China in Group D. Vietnam has four points from four matches with only two remaining.

After scoring a stoppage-time winner in Syria's 1-0 win at Vietnam on Saturday, Raja Rafe almost snatched the three points again but was denied by Tan Truong three minutes into added time.

Kuwait moved into a share of the Group B lead with Australia on seven points after a 1-0 win over Indonesia and Uzbekistan made it three wins from three matches with a 3-1 victory at Malaysia in Group C.

In Group E, Singapore avenged its 3-1 loss at home on the weekend with a 1-0 win over Thailand in the return leg on Wednesday to move back into second place in the group with six points, one behind Iran.

Thailand dominated possession but was unable to convert its chances. It has five points from four matches.