RIYADH, 18 August — Saudi Arabia, hampered by injuries and hot weather, found their feet late in the match to salvage a 1-1 draw against Bahrain in their opening match of the World Cup Asian qualifier, Group A, here yesterday.
At the Prince Faisal ibn Fahd Stadium, both the teams started off slowly in trying to gain a measure of their opponent. But it was the Bahraini side which was first to test the Saudi goalkeeper with some close range efforts, and one such foray yielded dividends.
A set piece from just outside the box was headed toward Muhammad Salmeen, who redirected the ball into the goal during an ensuing goalmouth scramble. This 18th minute strike spurred the Saudis in search of an equalizer, but they could not translate their field superiority into goals.
And it was left to Obaid Al-Dosari, who cut through host ?of defenders to convert a defense-splitting cross from the right into goal in the 82nd minute. This energized the Saudis, and one Sami Jabber electrifying run down the flank had all the hallmark of ending up a goal. But his superb prompt in front of the goal was wasted for want of a striker, and an onrushing Bahraini defender cleared for an abortive corner.
Later Prince Nawaf ibn Faisal, deputy chief of the Presidency of Youth Welfare, expressed disappointment at the level of Saudi performance. The prince said that a meeting with the coach and the technical staff will be held soon to seek out ways to improve the team’s performance.
Sheikh Isa ibn Rashid Al-Khalifa, chairman of the Bahrain Olympic Committee, said: “The match did not rise to the crowd’s expectation, though it had its moments. Also injuries and the weather affected the performance.”
Saudi Arabia, however, will be ruing the dropped point and the missed opportunities as Iraq got off to a 4-0 winning start against Thailand in the other match of the group.
Iraq opened up the throttles in the second half of the match in front of a goodly Baghdad crowd after riding out the first half with a Hisham Muhammad goal advantage. Hisham hit true in the 23rd minute. Imad Muhammad (70th), Hisham (76th) and Laith Hussein (84th) completed the rout.
UAE beat Uzbekistan 4-1
In Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates yesterday kicked off their World Cup qualifying campaign with a 4-1 win over Uzbekistan in Abu Dhabi to go top of Group B after Oman drew 0-0 with Qatar on Thursday in Doha.
In a match made difficult by a combination of searing heat and record humidity, the UAE took control of the first half with an impressive display of attacking football which produced three goals for the home side.
Yasser Salem opened the scoring in the 21st minute from close range with Gharib Hareb adding a second from the penalty spot 12 minutes later. Uzbekistan, defending desperately at times, were limited to sporadic counter-attacks but pulled a goal back through Nikolay Shirshov eight minutes before the break, only for Fahd Ali to restore the UAE's two-goal advantage with a header on the stroke of half- time.
The second half saw both teams tire visibly in the heat, Zuhair Bakhit sealing the three points and first place in the table with a fourth goal five minutes from the end.
Oman and Qatar shared the spoils in a goalless draw to give them a one-point lead over China, the only team yet to have played a match. The UAE are hoping to reach their second finals after Italia 90. Argentina, South Africa, Cameroon, Tunisia, Nigeria and Senegal have already secured qualification, along with defending champions France and joint hosts South Korea and Japan.
