The Asian Games gold medalists looked set to kick-off their campaign with a defeat after Naohiro Takahara fired Japan ahead in the 61st minute.

But, with 88 minutes played, Uruguay-born forward Quintana saw a free-kick clip the wall and fly past goalkeeper Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi.

The game ended on a sour note for the Qataris, however, when Hussein Yasser was sent off for a lunge at Hideo Hashimoto and coach Dzemaludin Musovic followed for protesting too loudly over the call.

Unlike the frantic finale, the game started in a sedate fashion.

Indeed, 17 minutes had passed before the Qataris carved out the first chance of the game, Mohammad Gholam`s 17th-minute free-kick forcing Kawaguchi to punch clear .

Four minutes later, Shunsuke Nakamura went for goal only for his attempt to be blocked by a Qatari defender.

After the break, Qatar introduced Majdi Siddiq for Mesaad Al Hamad, and the Al Khor midfielder presented an immediate threat, playing a one-two with Quintana only for the Japanese defence to clear.

However, Japan eventually reclaimed control of the game and in the 57th minute they came close to opening the scoring when Satoru Yamagishi fired over the bar.

It proved to be an ominous signal of things to come as, just four minutes later, Yasuyuki Konno latched on to a through ball from Kengo Nakamura before feeding a low cross for Takahara to finish from close range.

In the 81st minute, Quintana, who operated alone up front for most of the game, threatened the Japanese goal with a free-kick which was just over the bar.

But seven minutes later he had more luck.

After dusting himself down after being upended by Yuki Abe, he fired against the wall and past Kawaguchi for a dramatic leveller.