Japan, who had already secured their place in the final round of qualifiers, finished with 13 points, two more than Bahrain, who had also qualified for the final round before this match. Oman beat Thailand 2-1 at home on Sunday to finish third on eight points. Thailand were fourth with one point.

The final round will run from September 6, 2008 to June 17, 2009. The draw will take place on Friday. Besides Bahrain and Japan, Australia, Qatar, Korea Republic, DPR Korea, Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan, Iran and the United Arab Emirates also qualified for the final round.

With the final round in mind, Bahrain and Japan played without some of their regular players who had yellow cards.

The visitors left out forward Aala Ahmed Mohamed Hubail, who scored in the 1-0 win against Japan in Manama, as well as midfielders Mohamed Ahmed Yousuf Salmeen and Jaycee John, in addition to suspended defenders Abdulla Baba Fatadi and Abdulla Abdul Rahman Marzooq.

Japan coach Takeshi Okada used VVV Venlo midfielder Keisuke Honda, Kawasaki Frontale midfielder Kengo Nakamura and Gamba Osaka defender Michihiro Yasuda in place of St. Etienne midfielder Daisuke Matsui, VfL Wolfsburg midfielder Makoto Hasebe and Jubilo Iwata defender Yuichi Komano. Sanfrecce Hiroshima forward Hisato Sato was brought in to replace the suspended Yoshito Okubo.

Sato made his mark early on when he was brought down by Sayed Mohamed Adnan in the box.

Celtic midfielder Shunsuke Nakamura took the spot kick, but his attempt was stopped by Bahrain goalkeeper Sayed Mohamed Jaafar, to the frustration of the 51,180 rain-soaked fans at Saitama Stadium.

Japan enjoyed the greater possession and were able to create a number of chances.

Keiji Tamada hit a Honda pass but failed to connect properly in the 14th minute, and the Nagoya Grampus forward had a shot blocked by a Bahrain defender in the 29th minute. Shunsuke Nakamura attempted a long-range shot in the 34th minute and Yuji Nakazawa tried with a header from a corner a minute later, but neither troubled the Bahrain goal. Yasuto Endo hit a mid-range free-kick against the bar shortly before the break.

Bahrain came more into the game after the break through Faouzi Mubarak A'aish's mid-range effort in the 52nd minute, Hamad Rakea Alanezi's shot from 12 meters out in the 65th minute and Mahmood Abdulrahman's effort from the edge of the box in the 75th minute, but the shots either went wide or were stopped by Japan goalkeeper Seigo Narazaki.

Tamada came close for Japan with a couple of mid-range efforts halfway through the second half, but still couldn't find the target.

With the game heading toward a draw, Japan managed an unlikely breakthrough. Uchida competed against an opponent for a high ball 5 meters outside the box and his header looped toward the goal. Substitute forward Seiichiro Maki sprinted for the ball in the box, but the ball missed everyone and bounced high over the head of goalkeeper Jaafar into the goal.

"I really wanted to win today and I'm satisfied with the result," said Okada.

"What made me happy most was the way they scored the goal. Our players who can play neat football with good skills scored in an ugly way."

"I've been feeling something was missing from the team, namely a strong determination to win. They have now started showing that little by little," Okada added.

Bahrain coach Milan Macala said the weather was tough on his players, who have little experience playing in rain.

"We don't get rain in Bahrain and that made it tough for our players to work together in the game," Macala said.

"But my aim was to qualify for the final round and we've done that," he added.

Teams:

Japan―Seigo Narazaki, Atsuto Uchida, Yuji Nakazawa, Marcus Tulio Tanaka, Michihiro Yasuda (Yasuyuki Konno, 73rd), Kengo Nakamura, Yasuhito Endo, Shunsuke Nakamura, Keisuke Honda (Seiichiro Maki, 80th), Hisato Sato (Koji Yamase, 64th), Keiji Tamada. Coach, Takeshi Okada.

Bahrain―Sayed Mohamed Jaafar, Mohamed Husain, Abbas Saeed Ayyad (Rashed Isa Alallan, 72nd), Salman Isa, Sayed Mohamed Adnan, Hamad Rakea Alanezi, Sayed Mahmood Jalal Alwadaei, Faouzi Mubarak A'aish, Mahmood Abdulrahman, Abdulla Ismaeel Omar, Ismaeel AbdulLatif, Ismaeel (Rashed Jamal Salem, 78th). Coach, Milan Macala.

Goals―Atsuto Uchida (90thmin) for Japan

Cautions―Keisuke Honda (Japan), Sayed Mahmood Jalal Alwadaei (Bahrain), Sayed Mohamed Adnan (Bahrain)

Expulsions―None

Attendance―51,180

Referee―Ravshan Irmatov (Uzbekistan)