JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia suffered a 1-0 defeat against North Korea in Pyongyang yesterday in a setback that could hurt its chances of qualifying for the World Cup finals in 2010 in Africa.

In very cold temperature that reached 1 degree Celsius, the Saudi national team played before an overflow crowd of cheering North Koreans. Prior to the match, the sides met six times with the Saudi team winning four games.

In a first-ever match for both teams in North Korea, the Saudi team needed the three points in order to strengthen its bid for second place.

The result shocked Saudi fans who were hoping to see their beloved team come back with three points. Instead, the team will be returning home with bowed heads in defeat.

Mun In Guk scored the only goal of the match in the 28th minute, blasting home a nice back heel pass inside the penalty box to the left of the goalkeeper.

The North Koreans came on strong and dictated the tempo of the match with the Saudis relying on fast counter attacks built around Yasser Al-Qahtani in the striking line.

Sultan Al-Numari got his chance in the eighth minute from a fine cross inside the North Korean box but he was a tad late in the execution. Muhammad Nur heaved a fine shot from long distance but the ball grazed the bar in the 14th minute.

The North Korean team was well organized and, energized by the crowd support, managed to collect the game’s three points. Facing the possibility of an early elimination from qualifying to the World Cup for the fifth time, the Saudi coach brought in Hasan Al-Raheb, Ahmad Al-Mousa and Abdu Utaif in a bid to put extra pressure on the host team.

The Saudi team nearly scored the equalizer in the 70th minute when Nur gave a nice pass to Al-Qahtani inside the penalty box, but Al-Qahtani’s shot went inches wide to the right of the goalkeeper.

Al-Qahtani had another nice strong shot in the 83rd minute but his attempt was blocked.

With the win, North Koreans moved up to second place with seven points while the Saudis remained in fourth place with four points.

In the other Group B World Cup Asian qualifying match, Iran and South Korea tied 1-1 in Iran. This was good news for the Saudi team because the gap between Saudi Arabia and South Korea is only four points. South Korea still leads the group with 8 points. Iran dropped to third position with six points.