JEDDAH: So near yet so far. That best described the position of Saudi Arabia after it drew against North Korea 0-0 last night and blew the chance to nail the second automatic qualifying spot from Group B of the Word Cup Asian qualifiers.
The Saudi national team was one victory away from joining South Korea to the 2010 World Cup finals. But the team let the 65,000 fans down after failing to win in the final round of the qualifiers at King Fahd International Stadium.
Saudi Arabia’s dream of a fifth straight World Cup appearance, however, remains alive thanks to the playoffs where, as the third-place team from Group B, Saudi Arabia faces Bahrain, the third-place team from Group A, in a knockout home-and-away match on Sept. 5 in Bahrain and Sept. 9 in Saudi Arabia. The winner of this playoff will clash with New Zealand, the winner of the Oceania zone, to decide who wins the right to go to the showpiece event next year in South Africa.
This will be the first time in Saudi Arabia’s World Cup history that the team was stretched to the playoff stage of the qualifiers.
Bahrain sealed a playoff stage by beating Uzbekistan 1-0 in a lively but scrappy Group A match in Bahrain yesterday.
Despite the Saudis’ total domination of the match the strikers simply failed to convert despite the many scoring opportunities.
The Kingdom came charging right from the very first minute in search of an early goal. North Korea played defensive football and got the draw it needed to advance as the second outright qualifier from Group B. The Saudis’ first real chance came in the 16th minute from a strong shot by Yaser Al-Qahtani that was blocked by the Korean goalkeeper.
Naif Hazzazi made shots on goal in the 18th and 29th minutes that failed to find the net with Al-Qahtani again getting another scoring opportunity in the 45th minute. Al-Hazzazi came up with a fine 52nd minute header in what was to be the last clear attempt for the hosts who never gave up until the last minute.
Mahmood Abdulrahman scored the all important goal in the 74th minute with a stunning free-kick from about 30 yards which curled and buried itself in the top corner of the net leaving the Uzbek goalkeeper Ignatiy Nesterov stranded.
Bahrain were reduced to 10 men four minutes later following a red card to Abdulla Marzooqi. The defender was sent off after players from both sides clashed after a foul on Bahrain’s Abdulla Omar.
But Bahrain hung on and defended stoutly to pull off a deserved victory and finish third in this group with 10 points. Uzbekistan, who needed a victory to stay in the campaign, finished last on four points, two behind Qatar.
Australia and Japan have already booked the two automatic berths from this group. The Aussies topped the group with 20 points following a 2-1 victory over Japan, who finished second on 15, in the day’s other match in the same group.
Bahrain coach Milan Macala later attributed the victory to some fine teamwork and tremendous support shown by fans and officials.
— With input from agencies
