KUWAIT CITY, 31 March 2005 — Saudi Arabia and Kuwait battled to a 0-0 stalemate here yesterday at the Peace and Friendship Stadium leaving South Korea in the Group A driving seat in the race for the 2006 World Cup finals.

Both sides went into the match buoyed by impressive wins last weekend with the Saudis, who are bidding to qualify for their fourth successive World Cup finals, beating the Koreans 2-0 and Kuwait seeing off Uzbekistan 2-1.

But yesterday, both sides were left to rue their poor finishing as the result left South Korea, who beat Uzbekistan 2-1 in Seoul earlier in the day, on top of the group with six points from three games.

The Saudis stay second with five points, one ahead of Kuwait.

Hamad Al-Montashari could have given the Saudis an early lead with a fourth minute header that went wide, while Kuwait’s Walied Ali forced a good save out of Saudi goalkeeper Mabrouk Zaid with a low drive.

Kuwait substitute Khaled Khalaf squandered a 75th-minute chance to win the game while Manaf Abushgeer also wasted a glorious opportunity with just two minutes left.

South Korea’s Dutch coach Jo Bonfrere saw his side dominate Uzbekistan at the Seoul World Cup Stadium and victory was sealed with two goals inside seven minutes in the second half.

PSV Eindhoven midfielder Lee Young-pyo opened the scoring in the 55th minute with a close range shot and Lee Dong-gook made it 2-0 for the 2002 World Cup semifinalists when he volleyed home after being set up by Eintracht Frankfurt forward Cha Doo-ri.

Uzbekistan pulled one back in the 78th minute, when Alexander Geynrikh dribbled past two South Korean defenders before curling a shot past goalkeeper Lee Woon-jae.

Meanwhile, Iran coach Branko Ivankovic said his players’ lives were in danger after their 2-0 World Cup qualifying win in North Korea.

Iran’s victory meant they took the outright lead in their Asian World Cup qualifying group but their joy was soured by a rare outbreak of crowd violence in Pyongyang.

In Saitama, Japan the hosts kept the pressure on Iran but the Asian champions needed an own goal to edge past a determined Bahrain side 1-0.

Iran top Group B in the final round of Asian qualifiers with seven points from three matches. Japan, who suffered a 2-1 defeat in Tehran last week, have six.

Bahrain have four points while North Korea’s hopes of qualifying for their second World Cup are in tatters after three consecutive losses.

The top two teams from each group of four advance automatically into next year’s World Cup finals in Germany.

The two third-placed teams play each other over two legs for the right to contest a home-and-away playoff with a team from the CONCACAF zone and earn a possible fifth Asian spot.

Croats and Czechs Turn

Up World Cup Pressure

In Paris, Croatia and the Czech Republic boosted their dreams of making the 2006 World Cup finals with convincing wins yesterday as another busy night of qualifiers got underway in Europe.

Struggling Liverpool striker Milan Baros was on the scoresheet as the Czechs cruised past little Andorra 4-0 to take temporary charge of Group One while Rangers attacker Dado Prso scored twice to set the Croatians on their way to a 3-0 win against Malta in Zagreb.

The win put Croatia on top of Group Eight ahead of Sweden who were without a game.

Ukraine continued their astounding form with a 1-0 win against Denmark in Kiev to open up a five-point gap at the head of Group Two although European champions Greece can trim the deficit with a win over Albania later in the day.

The Czechs claimed their fifth win thanks to their mauling of Andorra with Marek Jankulovski opening the scoring from the penalty spot in the 31st minute before Baros made it 2-0 five minutes before the interval.

Vratislav Lokvenc and Tomas Rosicky, with another penalty, sealed the win for the Czechs although the Dutch can reclaim top spot in Group One later with a win over Armenia.

In Chisinau, bottom team Moldova held second-placed Norway to a goalless draw in a dull Group Five qualifier played in driving snow.

The result leaves Norway clinging to second place with eight points from five matches, level on points with Slovenia who drew 1-1 at home to Belarus in yesterday’s later match in the group. Italy are four points clear at the top of the standings.

In Skopje, a well-taken double from Nicolae Mitea helped Romania to a 2-1 win over Macedonia in their Group One qualifier.

Macedonia’s new coach Slobodan Santrac suffered a blow before the game when influential striker Goran Pandev from Lazio injured knee ligaments in the warm-up.

His problems increased after 18 minutes when Ajax midfielder Mitea put the visitors ahead, meeting a great cross from veteran Viorel Moldovan to stab the ball in from five meters.

In Zagreb, Prso struck in the 24th and 35th minutes before Igor Tudor fired in the third in the 80th minute as Croatia beat Malta 3-0.

In Kiev, Ukraine shrugged off the absence of injured star striker Andrei Shevchenko to beat Denmark 1-0 and take another huge step towards their first ever World Cup finals.

Bayer Leverkusen forward Andrei Voronin’s second-half goal confirmed Ukraine’s top spot in Group Two where they now have 17 points from seven matches.

Turkey kept their hopes alive with a 5-2 thrashing of Georgia with Fatih Tekke scoring twice in Tbilisi.

In Group Three, Portugal needed a goal eight minutes from time from former Tottenham striker Helder Postiga to earn a 1-1 draw against Slovakia in Bratislava. Russia’s hopes of closing the gap on the top two were snuffed out when they could only draw 1-1 with Estonia for whom Sergei Terehhov earned equalized Andrei Arshavin’s 18-minute opener.

In Riga, Euro 2004 striker Maris Verpakovskis scored twice as Latvia crushed Luxembourg 4-0 in their Group Three qualifier.

Midfielder Imants Bleidelis kicked off the goal bonanza in the 34th minute and only four minutes later defender Juris Laizan made it two from a penalty. Verpakovskis showed the speed and skill that marked his European championship performances in Portugal last year as he added further goals in the 72nd and 90th minutes.

Latvia now have 10 points from six games at the halfway stage in their qualifying campaign.