UAE loses to Saudi Arabia 2-1

Abu Dhabi: The UAE squandered their lead and lost to visiting Saudi Arabia 2-1 Wednesday night at Mohammad Bin Zayed Stadium to reduce their hopes of winning a seat in the finals of the 2010 World Cup after losing their first two home matches.

The UAE took the lead with a spectacular goal by Subait Khater when he sent a curling flag kick directly into the Saudis goal in the 21st minute.

The goal gave the home team a motive to attack more and press for another goal but the players squandered many easy scoring chances specially Faisal Khalil who missed a clear one to one situation with Waleed Abdulla the Saudis custodian in the 43rd minute following a penetrating pass from Esmail Mattar.

The UAE continued to attack in the second half but fatigue and exhaustion took their toll and Bruno Metus, the team's head coach, did not make any changes in the line up while Nasir Al Jawhar, his Saudis counterpart, brought in two strikers to strengthen his attack.

Soon Yasir Al Qahtani and Omar Al Ghamdi were in the thick of action and while Al Qahtani created the equalizer for Abdul Attif in the 68th minute, Al Ghamdi scored the winner only 3minutes later with the UAE's defence opening wide and the Saudis made in roads into it and if it wasn't for the brilliance of Majed Nasir, the home custodian, the Saudis would have scored more goals.

Betsu made his first substitution in the 72nd minute bringing in Ahmad Dada to replace Mohammad Al Shehhi only four minutes before the end he brought in Mohammad Ebrahim replacing Esmail Al Hammadi but his moves failed to have fruitful ends.

The Saudis and North Korea share the lead of Group B with four points each from two matches following the earlier 1-1 tie between the North and South Koreans, Iran and South Korea have one single point each from one match while the UAE are bottom of the group without a single point from two matches.