Saudi Arabia needs to fight hard for the automatic berth in next week's final match of the World Cup Asian qualifying after it was held to a goalless draw by South Korea in Seoul on Wednesday.
While Iran, in the same group with the Saudis, beat the United Arab Emirates 1-0 with a second-half goal from captain Ali Karimi, keeping its hopes alive of a berth at the finals and making the Group B qualification wide open.
Saudi Arabia now must win its final game at home against DPR Korea if it is to clinch automatic qualification. A draw or a win for the visitors would see DPR Korea go through automatically instead.
Saudi Arabia could even miss out on third place in Group B after Iran's 1-0 win over the United Arab Emirates.
Second-placed DPR Korea has 11 points, the same as Saudi Arabia, which trails on goal difference, while Iran has 10. A victory for Iran over already-qualified South Korea next week would guarantee it at least a third-place finish and possibly an automatic berth.
In Group A, already-qualified Japan secured a 1-1 draw with Qatar in Yokohama, an own goal after three minutes ending the Gulf side's faint hopes of reaching its first finals.
Elsewhere, Bahrain lost 2-0 to Australia in Sydney. With Japan and Australia through, Bahrain must avoid a home defeat by Uzbekistan to gain Group A's playoff place.
However, the 2-0 loss to Australia gave Bahrain no margin for error in the final game, as Uzbekistan would grab third place with even the narrowest of wins.
(Xinhua News Agency June 11, 2009)
