(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. CNN
