Saudi Arabia resumes its run to the 2010 World Cup Finals when it plays host the United Arab Emirates at Mohammed Bin Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday. Despite its disappointed 1-1 draw against Iran in Riyadh last Saturday, Saudi Arabia is determined to earn all the three points and ensure the top spot in Group B. It also hopes that the other results go in its favor like North Korea losing to South Korea Republic in another Wednesday clash. North Korea tops Group B after its 2-1 victory over the UAE at Mohammed Bin Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi last Saturday. Saudi Arabia and Iran share the second spot while the UAE stays last. The UAE boss Bruno Metsu was disappointed with his team's 2-1 home defeat but is still confident that his team has the stuff to qualify for South Africa. Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, arrived on Sunday with a delegation of 48 including the players and officials. The team trained at the Zayed Sports City on the first two days and had a final session on Tuesday at the match venue. Saudi Arabia coach Nasser Al-Johar who skipped the press conference after Iran match was not satisfied with the Saudi performance especially the defenders who failed to protect the Saudi lead in the second half. “It is not true that fitness of Saudi players was not enough to play 90 minutes. Our players have prepared very well for this round of qualification,” Saudi fitness trainer Mirana said. Al-Johar is expected to field the same squad that played against Iran. Defender Redha Tukar will miss the game because of the two yellow cards. Malek Al-Hawsawi and midfielder Saud Kariri also need more time to recover from their injury. Striker Saad Al-Harithi, who scored the only goal for Saudi Arabia against Iran, may be combining with Fisal Al-Sultan if Yasser Al-Qahtani is still suffering from his knee injury. Al-Qahtani, who played in the last 20 minutes against Iran, was not scheduled to participate despite efforts from the Saudi medical team to prepare him for this round. “Yasser Al-Qahtani has just recovered from an injury and during our training camp in Europe we did our best to make him ready. “He was not scheduled to participate in Iran game,” Brazilian Mirana said. After the UAE mission, Saudi Arabia will wait until November to play its third match against South Korea in Riyadh. __
