JEDDAH, 13 October 2004 — The Saudi Arabian national team qualified for the third stage of the World Cup Asian Zone Group Eight Qualifier with a 3-1 victory over Indonesia in Jakarta yesterday.

The victory gave the Kingdom a leading 15 points. They finished the group matches with an immaculate 5-0-0 win-draw-loss record that saw the green and white-shirted footballers slam 11 goals and surrender just a single goal.

Displaying quickness on both ends of the pitch, especially in the second half, Saudi Arabia were the first to score in the eighth minute when Talal Al-Meshal received a pass inside the box and cracked one to the left side of the goalie. The second goal came in the 12th minute from a nice shot from outside the penalty box by Hussein Abdulghani.

Indonesia were down by one man after Ismad Sofyan was shown the red card for a hard tackle on Hasan Moza in the 45th minute. The first half ended 2-0 in favor of Saudi Arabia.

In the second half, Indonesia scored in the 49th minute through striker Elham who converted a nice pass inside the penalty box.

Indonesia almost equalized on more than one occasion but Saudi goalie Rashed Al-Muqrin was there to make fine saves each time.

Saudi Arabia scored their third in the 79th minute with Yaser Al-Qahtani, after receiving a nifty pass from Ahmad Al-Dokhi, nodding home clinically.

Ireland Eye Swift Start Against Faroe Islands

In Dublin, Ireland plan to get off to a flying start against the Faroe Islands in their World Cup qualifier at Lansdowne Road today but could be without Nottingham Forest’s Andy Reid, agency adds.

The midfielder twisted his ankle during training on Monday, Republic of Ireland manager Brian Kerr told reporters, adding there was a 60:40 chance “or maybe a bit better” he would be fit to play in the Group Four match.

Despite holding France to a 0-0 draw on Saturday, Kerr says Ireland will not be dropping down a gear for the Faroe Islands game.

“If we play at an easy pace the Faroes’ team will get comfortable. We need to play at a tempo that they’re not quite used to.”