JEDDAH, 30 March 2005 — Saudi Arabia face Gulf rivals Kuwait today looking to strengthen their grip of the Group A top spot in the World Cup Asian zone final round of qualifying.
The Kingdom national soccer team go into the match buoyed by a comprehensive 2-0 victory over South Korea Friday.
Kuwait are also coming off a 2-1 triumph over Uzbekistan Friday and all indications point to a battle royale between the two teams.
The Saudis rocketed to the top of the group with that win over the seemingly listless Koreans. They have now 4 points in two games having drawn 1-1 against Uzbekistan.
With 3 points in two games, Kuwait are expected to use the Saudi match to try and revive their chances of qualifying for the 2006 World Cup in Germany.
The Kuwaitis have always been a tough customer for the Saudis who have never won on Kuwaiti soil in their soccer history. Another motivation for the Kuwaitis is the financial reward of SR24,000 for each team member given away by their manager before the Saudi match.
The Saudi players left for Kuwait on yesterday afternoon.
Saudi team captain Sami Al-Jaber considers Kuwait a much more important match than South Korea with a lot of national pride at stake. He said that the Kuwaiti team would play hard to prevent Saudi Arabia from winning the match. But “if we play with the same spirit we played against Korea, we will win the match,” added Al-Jaber.
Saudi defender Hamad Al-Muntashiri said the win against Korea would motivate Saudi players to win the match against Kuwait. He said: “I think we must play with the same style that we played against Korea. If we do that, I am sure that we will win the game three points. We should not hurry and we should not rush to score an early goal. We should be very careful in the defense line and rely on fast counter attacks.”
A busload of support — all 25 of them — has been arranged by the Pesidency of Youth Welfare in the Eastern Province. Fifteen buses will travel from Dammam and another 10 from Al-Ahsa.
