Naif Hazazi scored a brace to fire Saudi Arabia to a 4-0 rout of Bahrain in a friendly at the King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh on Wednesday. Faisal Al-Sultan put Saudi Arabia ahead in the first half while Hazazi doubled the lead a few minutes later. In the second half, a header from Hazazi made it 3-0 for Saudi Arbia before Redha Tukar sealed the win from the spot. Hazazi, who joined the Saudi squad recently, was the one who scored the opener against Thailand in a friendly on Nov. 8 at the same venue. Bahrain match was the second for Saudi Arabia ahead of upcoming 2010 FIFA World Cup away qualifier against South Korea on Nov. 19. International striker Yasser Al-Qhatani missed Bahrain clash after he traveled to Germany this week for medical treatment. Al-Qahatni, who was injured during the training camp in Riyadh, is likely to miss South Korea clash especially after Saudi coach Nasser Al-Johar called up Al-Ittifaq striker Saleh Basher. Saudi Arabia had the upper hand and the team took the lead after 25 minutes when Faisal Al-Sultan blasted a short range shot to the center of Bahraini goalkeeper's cage. Four minutes later, Hazazi who assisted Al-Sultan's opener, doubled the lead sending the ball to the left side of Bahrain net. After the break, Bahrain players tried to regroup but Naif Hazazi increased the margin with a 57th minute header, thanks to Abdo Atif's neat cross. Bahrain had a late chance to pull one goal back when Fawzi Aysh sent the ball from the spot to goalpost of Waleed Abdullah. In the 90 minute, defender Redha Tukar sealed the win from another penalty to conclude the Saudi team preparations for South Korea. 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 tops the group with the same points but has better goal difference. Saudi Arabia is grouped with South Korea, North Korea and Iran in the final qualifying round for the 2010 World Cup. Bahrain hosts Australia in Group D of the same qualifiers. The Bahraini team stays in the fourth spot with one point while Australia leads on six points. The top two teams in the two Asian groups advance to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa while the third placed teams in both groups will clash in a home-and-away playoff with the winner of the Oceania Football Confederation team. __
