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AL-RAYYAN, Qatar — Big wins for Japan and Iran have backed up their pre-tournament billing as two of the favorites to lift the Asian Cup. Record four-time champion Japan came from behind to beat Vietnam 4-2 in Group D and Iran overcame the Palestinian soccer team 4-1 in Group C. Japan is the standout favorite to triumph in Qatar after its dominance was broken over the last two editions of the tournament. It has not lifted the trophy since 2011. That ended a run that saw it win four out of six titles. It suffered an early shock when trailing 2-1 to a Vietnam team ranked 94th by FIFA but powered back to avoid an upset.
