JEDDAH, 15 November 2006 — Saudi Arabia play their final Asian Cup qualifying match against Japan today. The Kingdom’s away tie will be played at the Sapporo Dome in Sapporo City located on the island of Hokkaido, Japan.
Nothing more than prestige is at stake in the match with both teams having qualified from Group A for the Asian Cup final to be jointly hosted by Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam in 2007.
The unbeaten Saudis are on top of the group entering the match with 15 points from five matches, while Japan are second on 12 points winning four matches and losing one 1-0 against the Kingdom.
For this match Japan coach Ivica Osim has called up U-21 midfielder Keisuku Honda of Nagoya Grampus Eight. The other new faces in the squad, according to the AFC website, are Kashima Antlers midfielder Takuya Nozawa, Oita Trinita striker Daiki Takamatsu and Jubilo Iwata forward Ryoichi Maeda.
In their head-to-head matches, Japan beat Saudi Arabia 1-0 and 2-0 at the Asian Nations Cup 2000, 2-1 and 1-0 at the friendly in 1995, 1-0 at the Asian Cup 1992 and 2-0 at the Asian Games 1990. Both teams drew 0-0 at the 1994 FIFA World Cup group stage.
Meanwhile, AFC confirmed on Monday the Singapore-Palestinefinal qualifying match would be played as scheduled today at the Jalan Besar Stadium in Singapore.
Reacting to media reports about the game’s postponement, Clare Kenny Tipton, AFC assistant general secretary and director of marketing and communications, said: “The Group E qualifying match is on and it will take place as scheduled on Wednesday at the Jalan Besar Stadium.”
China and Iraq have already qualified from this group for the finals.
