Naif Hazazi lifted Saudi Arabia to a 3-2 victory over UAE in a Group A 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifier at King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh Wednesday. Hazazi, who clinched the equalizer against Iran last Saturday in Tehran, broke the 2-2 deadlock with a beautiful header. The victory revived Saudi Arabia hopes for an automatic berth in the Finals as the team maintained the third spot with 10 points, just one point behind South Korea which beat its neighbor North Korea 1-0 in Seoul. North Korea stays second with 10 points but with a better goal difference than Saudi Arabia. Iran is fourth with six points while UAE remained at the bottom with a single point. Abdu Atif put Saudi Arabia ahead as he netted from the spot four minutes after the kick-off. UAE drew level in the 39th minute when Ismail Matar sent a cross into the box for Mohammed Al-Shehi who headed in to beat Saudi goalkeeper Waleed Abdullah. Matar doubled the UAE score few seconds before the break when his 35-yard volley shook Waleed's net. Saudi coach Jose Peseiro pulled all his cards after the break to regain the domination. The Saudi pressure bore fruit when UAE's Faris Juma self-destructed with an own goal in the 71st minute. The hosts continued to apply pressure and came close to regain the lead on many occasions until Hazazi headed the winner in the 83rd minute. Saudi Arabia now resumes its campaign June 10 when the team travels to Seoul to play South Korea. Aussies close in on finals Australia moved to the brink of World Cup qualification as South Korea scored a last-gasp goal to shatter North Korean dreams in a match overshadowed by political tensions. Australia battled to a 2-0 victory over Uzbekistan in Sydney to remain unbeaten in its five games and regain top spot in Asian Group A with 13 points. It would have become the first nation to qualify for the Finals if Bahrain and Qatar played out a draw, but the Bahrainis edged their Gulf neighbors 1-0 in Manama to make Pim Verbeek's Socceroos wait a little longer to ensure qualification. Japan, who had a night off Wednesday, is hot favorite to join Australia from the group with 11 points from its five games. Australia's goals were a long time coming after a flat first half but a strike from substitute Josh Kennedy and a penalty from Harry Kewell inside the final 25 minutes kept them on track. “I'm very pleased with the 2-0 win,” said Verbeek. “We had a difficult first half but I think the second half we played faster, quicker and with a higher ball speed.” In Manama, Bahrain's victory was secured by striker Fouzi Aaish who scored the all-important goal in the 52nd minute from a free-kick. Bahrain is now third in the Group A table with seven points. In Seoul, North Korea looked to have done enough to earn a point to keep it on top of Group B but Kim Chi-woo gave the South a valuable victory with an 88th minute goal. The match in Seoul, only the second FIFA-sanctioned match between them on South Korean soil, was played with tensions high between the two countries ahead of a rocket launch by the communist North. The North says it plans to fire a rocket to launch a satellite for peaceful space research between April 4-8 but the United States, Japan and South Korea claim it is a pretext for testing its Taepodong-2 missile. Against this backdrop, the South Korean crowd booed North Korea's every touch of the ball, rubbing salt in its wounds when substitute Kim's curling, left-foot freekick found the back of the net. While the North started stronger, it was largely South Korea who dominated the first half but it was repeatedly frustrated by the stifling North Korean defense. The North almost grabbed the lead early in the second half. It woke up the South and it started pushing forward, creating chances that culminated in Kim rescuing the day with his late goal. __
