S. Arabia beats RI in Asian qualifier

Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Ten-man Indonesian battled gamely in the second half, but being a man down possibly prevented them from overcoming Saudi Arabia in their Group 8 match of the 2006 World Cup Asian qualifiers at the Bung Karno stadium here on Tuesday evening.

Indonesia paid dearly for its lackluster defense in the first half as Peter Withe's squad eventually went down 3-1 .

Saudi Arabia, which had already been assured of qualification to the final stage when Sri Lanka and Turkmenistan drew 2-2 in Colombo on Saturday, has now won all five of its matches.

Asian World Cup qualifying sees 32 countries split into eight groups of four. The eight group winners advance to a final qualifying round, where they are divided into two groups of four.

The final group winners qualify for the 2006 finals in Germany with the runners-up meeting in a play-off for the third Asian berth. The loser of that match then advances to a further play- off against a European side.

Indonesia was reduced to ten men after Ismet Sofyan was expelled for a harsh tackle with one minute to go before the end of the first half.

Ilham Jaya Kesuma scored the only goal for the home team in 50th minute, which had initially been scheduled for Wednesday but was held earlier on Tuesday due to Ramadhan.

The Saudis took the lead in the ninth minute after striker Saeed Al Meshal made a shot to the left corner of Hendro Kartiko's net, taking benefit from the Indonesian defenders' failure to clear the ball from their penalty area.

Being a goal down, Indonesian defenders looked nervous as Saudi players took advantage of their taller physical stature with their long crosses and passes.

In the 13th minute, a miscue from an Indonesian defender resulted in a corner kick, which the Saudis made the best of with Sulaimani slotting home for a 2-0 lead.

Indonesia began to look for a goal itself with Elie Aiboy playing a large part in the attack.

Ilham almost found the Saudi net with his free header in the 42nd minute after receiving a good cross from the right side, but the ball caromed off the crossbar.

In the second half, Indonesia, down to ten men after Ismet's sending off, was surprisingly able to develop its pace with a combination one-two touch and speed from left wing Boas T.E. Salossa and right wing Elie.

In the 50th minute, Boas managed to make a good run to get past a defender and delivered a low pass to Ilham, who fired the ball into the back of the net.

But Saeed AlQahtani sealed the Saudi win ten minutes from the end after he made a free header leaving two Indonesian defenders in his wake.

The teams will wrap up the pool stage when Indonesia hosts Turkmenistan and Saudi Arabia plays Sri Lanka on Nov. 17.

Group 8

P W D L F A Pts

Saudi Arabia 5 5 0 0 11 1 15

Turkmenistan 5 2 1 2 7 7 7

Indonesia 5 1 1 3 5 11 4

Sri Lanka 5 0 2 3 4 8 2