Ten-man South Korea came from a goal down to beat unheralded Vietnam 2-1 and maintain their position at the top of Asian Group 7 in World Cup qualifying on Wednesday.

Fellow powerhouse Japan routed India 4-0 in Kolkata to strengthen their leadershipin Group 3.

War-torn Iraq were also convincing winners against Taiwanin Group 2.

South Korea were a man down for most of the game in Hanoi after Cha Du-Ri's 11th-minute red-card, fell behind early in the second half when Park Jae-Hong directed a shot from Vietnam's Tai Em past his own'keeper.

However, Lee Dong-Gook headed the visitors level before Lee Chun-Soo curled home a delicious free-kick on 77 minutes, silencing the capacity Ho Chi Minh City crowd.

But it was a far from convincing performance from the 2002 World Cup semi-finalists whose defence was repeatedly caught napping by Vietnam's speedy counter-attacks.

In a scrappy opening first 15 minutes both teams struggled to put together any decent attacks, although South Korea dominated territory and possession and were more aggressive on the ball.

But the visitors got off to the worst possible start after the break with Park Jae-Hong accidentally heading Tai Em's shot into the top righthand corner, sending the home fans wild.

However, a period of concerted pressure at the other end saw Lee Dong-Gook head home a cross fired in from the right by Lee Chun-Soo tolevel the scores.

Thirteen minutes later, Lee ChunSoo fired in a David Beckham-esque freekick which curled into the top lefthand corner of the net to save South Korea's blushes.

Japan went ahead through Suzuki in the last minute of the first half. Feyenoord midfielder Shinji Ono extended the lead in the 59th minute. Fukunishi and Miyamoto scored the other goals. Japan only requires draws in their remaining return games against Oman and Singapore to qualify for the next round.

At Dushanbe, Syria grabbed a narrow win over hosts Tajikistan in a Group Six encounter.

The result left Syria with seven points from four matches, three points behind group leaders Bahrain, who clinched a 2-1 away win at Kyrgyzstan on Wednesday to confirm their position at top of the group's table.

Iraq's footballers carried their Olympic form into World Cup qualifying with a 4-1 victory over Taiwan at Taipe.

The Iraqis, fresh from their semifinals heroics in Athens, kept up the pressure on Uzbekistan with a convincing win inspired by Salih Sadir, who netted the opener of a first-half double afterjust three minutes.

Defender Saad Attiya added a third on 82 minutes before Taiwan's late consolation strike through Tsai Hui Kai. Razzaq Farhan wrapped up the scoring at 90 minutes.

Iraq's footballing exploits have been a rare cause for celebration in the war-weary nation with wins over Portugal and Australia in Athens before falling to Paraguayin the semi-finals.

Uzbekistan, two points ahead of Iraq at the top of Group 2 going in to Wednesday's qualifiers, were due to face Palestine in alater fixture.