After two matches in Group D the Saudi national team could only muster one point. It drew its opening game in Oman 0-0 then lost 3-1 at home to Australia.

Australia leads the group with full 6 points from two matches. Thailand is second after a narrow loss at Australia and a 3-0 victory over Oman.

With only the top two teams from each of the five, four-team groups advancing to the final round qualifying Saudi Arabia and coach Frank Rijkaard are under heavy pressure to win against Thailand in Bangkok.

Rijakaard, former coach of Barcelona and the Netherlands, was tapped by the Saudi Football Federation in June in a bid to help Saudi Arabia in its mission to qualify for the World Cup for the fifth time.

Associated Press adds: On the eve of the match, Thailand coach Winfried Schaefer was brimming with confidence.

“It won’t be easy, but we can win this match,” Thailand coach Winfried Schaefer told Associated Press. “We can go to the next round. I told my players this. Our dream is the World Cup, it is not easy but that is our target.

“I hope we can play at the same level as we played against Oman and Australia. Then we have a chance.”

Since taking over in July, Schaefer, who led Cameroon to the 2002 African Nations title, has been praised for the team’s improvements.

“I told them that if they play well for the national team, everyone in the world will be able to see them,” the German said. “The players are confident and we have worked hard on fitness and tactics. We are not afraid.”

Schaefer, who spent five years coaching in the UAE, knows that the pressure is already on his opposite number Rijkaard.

The Socceroos control the group and, along with Jordan, is the only team to have maximum points from the opening two games. A win against Oman in Sydney would give coach Holger Osieck, whose team thrashed Malaysia 5-0 in a Friday friendly, one foot in the final round.

A third straight loss would also virtually end the chances of Oman and its French coach Paul Le Guen, another big-name boss under pressure.

“We should all know that Australians are a big power,” said Le Guen, a former Lyon, Paris St. Germain and Cameroon coach. “See how they dominated against the Malaysians. I have asked the players to have a never-say-die-spirit and fight till the end in this crucial match.”

Australia, without English Premier League stars Tim Cahill and Mark Schwarzer, is expecting a tougher test against Oman than Malaysia.

Former Real Madrid coach Carlos Queiroz is enjoying better results with Iran, with four points from the opening two matches to lead Group E from Bahrain on goal difference.

“The two rivals meet in Tehran. Bahrain is a dangerous team with good players,” Queiroz said. “However, we know the way the Bahrainis play and want to beat them.”

Indonesia has been in disarray and needs to defeat third-placed Qatar at home in Jakarta.

The UAE is another team yet to earn a point and faces a tough trip to Group B leaders South Korea. After the second defeat at Lebanon, coach Srecko Katanec was fired and replaced by Abdulla Masfar. The team is also still coming to terms with the death last month of young winger Theyab Awana in a car accident.

In the other Group B game, third-placed Lebanon hosts second-placed Kuwait.

Arsenal striker Park Chu-young may be struggling for playing time in the Premier League, but has scored six goals in his last three games for Korea, two coming in Friday’s 2-2 draw with Poland in Seoul.

Asian champion Japan will expect to take three points in Group C when bottom-placed Tajikistan arrives in Osaka. Most eyes will be on the clash between the two teams expected to tussle for second place as North Korea, with three points, hosts Uzbekistan with four.

There is also a crunch match in Group A. Jordan has six points and with successive games against bottom team Singapore could build an unassailable lead at the top. If so, the match between China and Iraq, both teams have three points, in Shenzhen will be crucial.

Iraq’s hopes of reaching the next stage have been hit by FIFA’s recent ruling that all home games must be played on neutral territory due to security concerns.