JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia failed to deliver a victory against South Korea after they drew 0-0 in Seoul yesterday. No matter. The Saudi national team gets another chance for an automatic berth to the World Cup finals in South Africa against North Korea next Wednesday in Riyadh.
The draw left Saudi Arabia tied with North Korea on 11 points, and both teams will now knock each other out for the second and last outright qualifying berth from Group B in a decisive match next week.
The undefeated and already qualified South Korea whose last match is against Iran boosted its tally to 15 points. South Korea has reached the World Cup for the eighth time in its history.
The Kingdom team was looking to bring home the three points against the hosts who played pressure-free football. Instead, the Saudis have their backs against the wall with a must-win game in the finale.
With Yaser Al-Qahtani and Naser Al-Shamrani in the striking line, Saudi Arabia assumed control of the midfield for most of the first half while South Korea relied on fast counter attacks.
Al-Shamrani nearly set up a Saudi goal in the 13th minute when he drilled a nice shot inside the penalty box that was blocked and rebounded to Al-Qahtani whose header was likewise thwarted by the goalkeeper.
South Korea replied in the 19th minute from a dangerous pass in front of the Saudi goalie. The Koreans were very dangerous in the last five minutes of the match and could have scored on two occasions — 40th and 41st minutes — were it not for the superb goalkeeping by Waleed Abdullah.
The Saudi cause was not helped when Abdu Utaif badly injured his knee in the 50th minute forcing the coach Jose Peseiro replace him with Abdul Rahman Al-Qahtani.
South Korea nearly scored in the 56th minute when Park Young’s header went over the crossbar. In the next minutes the Saudis had the lion’s share of the scoring opportunities.
In the 60th minute, Al-Shamrani had his shot blocked after he managed to come face to face with the Korean goalkeeper. Yaser Al-Qahtani’s attempt in the 72nd minute from inside the penalty box went inches wide to the left of the goalkeeper. South Korea had a golden chance to score in the 74th minute when, after a mad scramble inside the penalty box, the ball nearly crossed the line. The Saudi side was a man down after Ahmad Utaif was red carded in the 79th minute.
The rhythm of the match slowed down with the Saudi team banking on fast counter attacks. The Saudis flirted with an injury time winner when Naif Al-Hazzazi’s header sailed over the crossbar.
Elsewhere, Iran set up a nerve-shredding final round of Asian World Cup qualifiers after a 1-0 win over the United Arab Emirates kept their hopes of a fourth appearance in the finals alive.
Iran remain in fourth place in Group B with 10 points from seven matches, one behind North Korea and Saudi Arabia.
“With this win we have got closer to the World Cup. I hope that with the knowledge I have of South Korea, we’ll be able to celebrate our making it to the finals in Seoul next week,” said Iran coach Afshin Qotbi.
The team which finishes third in Group B will have to face the third-placed side in Group A, either Bahrain or Uzbekistan, with the eventual winner then going on to face New Zealand for a spot in the 2010 finals.
Earlier, Qatar saw its hopes of qualifying extinguished. The Qataris ended their eight-game campaign with a 1-1 draw against Japan in Yokohama but it was not enough to keep them in contention.
With Australia and Japan already assured of the top two places in Group A, with their names in the hat for the World Cup draw in December, the race for the third place playoff slot is now between Bahrain and Uzbekistan. Bahrain lost 2-0 to the Socceroos in Sydney to remain on seven points to Qatar’s six and Uzbekistan’s four.
Uzbekistan and Bahrain play each other next week in Manama with the home team needing a draw to make the playoffs.
— With input from agencies
