JEDDAH: It’s the moment of truth for Saudi Arabia and North Korea as they go after each other’s jugular in the final round of the World Cup Asia qualifiers today.
The plum prize up for grabs in the decisive match at King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh is the second outright berth to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa from Group B, where South Korea had qualified first in the group.
An incentive of SR2 million for the Saudi national team is being dangled by sponsor Zain Telecom if they qualified for the World Cup, raising hopes that the hosts will go all out for victory to end the campaign on a high note and avoid having to go through a playoff to advance.
The third-placed teams from Group A and Group B knock each other out for a shot at Oceania’s New Zealand with the winner to become the fifth team from Asia in the World Cup finals.
Saudi Arabia and North Korea both have 11 points entering the match. But the visitors hold the edge in goal difference and have two options to qualify outright which are win or draw.
For the Kingdom victory is its only option, having lost the luxury of choice when it drew with South Korea 0-0 last Wednesday. The home-field advantage, however, could spell the difference in a pressure-cooker match such as this.
The Saudis are eyeing their fifth straight World Cup appearance and for the first time in history will have their fate decided down to the last match of the qualifiers.
Still, reaching up to this stage of the qualifiers was a long hard climb up the ladder. In the third stage, Saudi Arabia played in the fourth group and advanced to the next round as first of the group with 15 points from five wins and one loss.
Saudi Arabia secured home and away wins against Singapore and Lebanon. It lost against Uzbekistan 3-0 in the first leg and won the second leg match in Riyadh 4-0 to qualify for the final stage alongside Uzbekistan which came second also with 15 points.
