( CNN ) -- Saudi Arabia and Japan made stuttering starts to their bids to win a record fourth Asian Cup title on Sunday . The Saudis , beaten in the previous final four years ago by Iraq , suffered a shock 2-1 defeat by Syria in their opening game in Qatar . Japan , the 2004 champions , earlier needed a late equalizer to snatch a 1-1 draw with Jordan in Group B 's first match . Syria have never made it to the quarterfinals in four previous attempts , the last being in 1996 , but boosted their hopes of progressing thanks to two deflected goals from midfielder Abdulrazak Al Husein at Ahmed bin Ali Stadium in Al-Rayyan . Qatar welcomes half the world for 2011 Asian Cup . He broke the deadlock seven minutes before halftime when his shot from outside the penalty area went in off the head of Abdullah Shuhail , but Syria 's goalkeeper Mosab Balhous gifted Saudi an equalizer with half an hour to play . The captain let a tame header by substitute Taiseer Al Jassam slip past him and into the net , but Al Husein saved his blushes just two minutes later as he again pounced on a loose clearance and saw his shot take a significant diversion into the Saudi net . Syria 's Romanian coach Tita Valeriu was delighted after having only recently taken control of the team . `` I did n't expect to win but I expected us to play well , '' he said in quotes reported by the AFP news agency . `` I had only a very short time to coach the team but we used a formation that worked very well . That was the key . '' The result puts more pressure on the Gulf nation 's coach Portuguese coach Jose Peseiro , who was failed to guide the team to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa . `` We did n't deserve to lose , but we lost , '' he said . `` We are disappointed with the result , but not the spirit . China defeat 10-man Kuwait . Japan appointed Italian coach Alberto Zaccheroni after Takeshi Okada stood down in July , having taken the `` Blue Samurai '' into the second round of football 's biggest tournament before losing on penalties to Paraguay . Zaccheroni led Japan to a historic 1-0 friendly win over South American superpowers Argentina in his first match in charge , but the former Inter , AC Milan and Juventus coach was disappointed by his team 's efforts at Doha 's Qatar SC Stadium . Jordan , playing at the tournament for just the second time , took the lead right on halftime when Hasan Abdel Fattah 's shot deflected in off Maya Yoshida -- who made amends with a headed leveler two minutes into second-half injury-time . Hosts Qatar shocked in Asian Cup opener . `` I am not satisfied with the result , especially in the first half , '' Zaccheroni said . `` We must accelerate the speed of our play . We failed to finish on chances . I expect other Asian teams will fight like Jordan . We must readjust ourselves with that in mind . '' The 16-team tournament continues on Monday , as Group C kicks off with outsiders India playing Asia 's top-ranked team Australia and then two-time champions South Korea taking on Bahrain .
Three -time Asian Cup champions Syria lose Three -1 to Saudi Arabia in opening game . Syrians , ranked 107th in world , triumph in first match at tournament since 1996 . Japan , also seeking a record fourth title , snatch late equalizer against Jordan . The 16-team tournament continues on 1996 with first matches of CNN schedule .