Naif Hazazi scored in the second half as Saudi Arabia beat 10-man Thailand 1-0 in a friendly match played at the King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh on Saturday. Hazazi broke the deadlock in the 64th minute after a goalless first half to seal a frustrating win. The match was the first for the Greens ahead of its upcoming 2010 FIFA World Cup away qualifier against South Korea on Nov. 19. The Saudi coach, Nasser Al-Johar, used the match to test some of his new players who have recently joined the squad. Saudi Arabia, looking for its fifth straight trip to the World Cup Finals, is in the second spot of Group B with four points from two matches. South Korea is on top of the group with the same number of points but leads due to a better goal average. Al-Johar started the match without his strikers Yasser Al-Qahtani and Malek Al-Hawsawi, bringing in Faisal Al-Sultan and Al-Ahli's forward Hassan Al-Raheb instead. The Saudi team failed to create chances in the first half while Thailand, under its new English coach Peter Reid, produced some real chances though failed to convert them. Saudi substitute Hazazi netted the only goal for Saudi Arabia 19 minutes into the second half when he headed a cross into the right side of Thai net. The Saudi team is scheduled to play another friendly in preparation for its World Cup qualifier, this time against Bahrain on Wednesday. Saudi Arabia is grouped with South Korea, N. Korea and Iran in the final qualifying round for the 2010 World Cup. ‘Ronaldo deserves award' Cristiano Ronaldo deserves to succeed Kaka as the Ballon d'Or winner but he also warned the Manchester United winger that he is determined to help Brazil beat his Portugal team this month. Ronaldo is strong favorite to take both the 2008 Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year awards after inspiring Manchester United to the Champions League and Premier League double last season. “The match is important for me because we'll play at a stadium that's a few paces from where I was born,” the AC Milan playmaker told Saturday's La Gazzetta dello Sport referring to the friendly in Brasilia on Nov. 19. “And I want to beat Cristiano, who will deservedly win the Ballon d'Or, and make all Brazilian people happy.” Kaka scooped the Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player prizes last year after being the driving force behind Milan's successful campaign to win its seventh European champions title. __
