Awkward draw for 'Roos

Australia faces a tricky route to the 2011 Asian Cup finals after being drawn in a difficult qualification group which includes Oman and Kuwait.

The draw for the qualifying tournament, held at the Aspire Dome in Doha on Thursday, placed the Socceroos in Group B with the two Gulf sides and Indonesia.

Although Oman and Kuwait recently failed to advance to the final stage of the Asian qualifiers for the 2010 World Cup, both teams have provided tough opposition for Australia since it joined the Asian Football Confederation in 2006.

Kuwait beat Australia 2-0 during the qualifying tournament for the 2007 Asian Cup, while Oman was unlucky not to see off the Socceroos at last year's Asian Cup finals as a stoppage-time equaliser from Tim Cahill salvaged a 1-1 draw in Bangkok.

Three-time Asian champion Japan, who will have to negotiate the qualifiers after losing to South Korea in the third-place play-off at the last Asian Cup, has once again been placed alongside Bahrain.

The two sides met twice in the third round of the World Cup qualifiers this year and are scheduled to play each other again in the final round, which commences in September.

They are now set for at least two more matches in the next couple of years after being placed in Group A alongside Hong Kong and Yemen.

Another three-time champion, Iran, is in Group E with Jordan, Singapore and Thailand.

Uzbekistan is the top seed in Group C, which comprises United Arab Emirates, Malaysia and India, while China are in Group D with Vietnam, Syria and Lebanon.

The top two sides in each group will advance to the finals, where they will join hosts Qatar, defending champion Iraq, 2007 runners-up Saudi Arabia and South Korea as well as the winners of the 2008 and 2010 AFC Challenge Cups.

The Asian Cup qualifying tournament is scheduled to begin in January.