Chile romp into last eight

Tournament favourites Chile overcame some anxious moments before beating Uzbekistan 2-0 in their last Group D league match to romp into the quarter-finals of the Sahara Cup Millennium football tournament in Calcutta on Wednesday.

Midfielder Marco Villaseca and susbstitue Sebastian Gonzalez scored for the Latin American outfit in a pulsating floodlit encounter at the Salt Lake stadium.

Chile maintained an all-win record to top the group with nine points and will take on Iceland in the quarter-finals at the same venue.

In another match in Calcutta, Japan beat Bahrain 2-0.

Striker Keisuke Ota drew first blood late in the opening session for the Japanese while Sekine consolidated his team's position, finding the target seconds before the long whistle.

Japan went into the lead as Ota capitalised on a goalkeeping lapse and Sekine shot to the corner of the net after cutting through the Bahrain defence to seal a berth in the last eight stage of the 13-team tournament.

Chile will now clash with Group B runners up Iceland in the quarters while Japan will take on Group C champion Jordan in another quarterfinal encounter at the same venue.

In the other quarter-final matches, Group B champions Uruguay will lock horns with Bosnia at Kochi while Group-A champions Yugoslavia will play Romania in Goa.

The Chileans, despite enjoying territorial advantage for most part of the first half, could open their account only in the 40th minute of the contest, capitalising on a defensive lapse.

Midfielder Villaseca placed the ball in from inside the box following a pass from Francisco Arrrue as the Uzbek defenders, expecting an off-side ruling, made no efforts to foil the move.

The Chileans completed the tally five minutes before the final whistle from a fast counter attack which saw medio Rodrigo Mezendez outwit the defenders with deft footwork and send the ball to an unmarked Gonzalez, who found the net with a neat right footer, giving no chance at all to the Uzbek custodian, Kaharov Oleg.