JEDDAH, 8 June 2005 — Saudi Arabia aim to seal their spot in the World Cup finals with a home victory against Uzbekistan. The two teams clash in a crucial Asian final round qualifying in Group A today at the King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh.
Sitting on top of the group with eight points from four matches the Kingdom national football team will go all out to get the full three points that would guarantee their fourth straight trip to the 2006 World Cup in Germany after earlier appearances in USA ‘94, France ‘98 and Korea-Japan 2002.
Inspired by the huge 3-0 win against Kuwait Friday, the Saudis promised that the game against Uzbekistan, fourth in the standings with 2 points, will be no different from the match against Kuwaitis. The hosts need the win if only to ease the pressure in the away game against Korea in Seoul.
In addition to the victory against their Gulf rivals, Saudi Arabia also scored a 2-0 win at home to Korea and posted two draws away against Kuwait 0-0 and Uzbekistan 1-1.
If Saudi Arabia draw or lose and Kuwait win their match against South Korea they cannot afford to lose their final match in Korea if they are to go straight into the World Cup main draw. The Saudis are expected to play with the same style against Kuwait, which is to push forward and attack from the first whistle. Sami Al-Jaber, Muhammad Al-Shalhoub and Yasser Al-Kahtani are expected to give the Uzbek defense line a hard time.
More than 70,000 fans are expected to attend today’s match. Football fanatic Saad Al-Ahmadi said: “Saudi Arabia cut 50% of the distance to World Cup after winning against Kuwait. On Wednesday, Saudi Arabia will cut the remaining distance and qualify officially. I am sure and we all believe that the Saudi Falcons will do it. I have a gut feeling that Al-Qahtani will score at least three goals against Uzbekistan.”
