September 12, 2008	Friday	Ramazan 11, 1429

BANGKOK, Sept 11: Saudi Arabia scored twice in five thrilling minutes to beat United Arab Emirates 2-1 and snatch a share of the Group Two lead with North Korea in World Cup qualifying on Wednesday.

The Saudi sucker-punch late in the second half put the World Cup regulars level with the North Koreans, who were held to a 1-1 draw in a highly-charged encounter with arch-rivals South Korea.

Asia newcomers Australia opened their account with a 1-0 victory over a determined but misfiring Uzbekistan, which moved the Socceroos third behind leaders Qatar and Japan in Group One.

Qatar are a point clear at the top after drawing 1-1 with Bahrain in Doha, where Abdullah Fatadi’s 66th minute goal cancelled out Sebastian Quintana’s fifth-minute lead for the hosts.

The Saudis, eyeing a place at their fifth-consecutive World Cup, trailed at the midway stage after Subait Khater’s botched corner sailed comically past three defenders and into the net.

They pushed forward with classy play and levelled on 68 minutes when Abdoh Autef’s shot deflected into the net.

Substitute Ahmed al-Fraidi added a stunning second moments later to sink the UAE when he darted past three defenders and blasted home from inside the box.

In Shanghai, Hong Yong-jo drew first blood for North Korea when he converted a 64th-minute penalty awarded after a foul by South Korean captain Kim Nam-il.

That lead lasted only five minutes before Ki Sung-yueng took a long pass on his chest and slid the ball under the goalkeeper to further frustrate the North Koreans.

Australia went ahead in Tashkent on 25 minutes through Scott Chipperfield and survived over an hour of constant pressure to secure a priceless win in their opening match of the round.

The two sides battled it out in an entertaining first quarter before Luke Wilkshire rode a tackle on the right and picked out the unmarked Chipperfield, whose downward header powered off the turf and into the top left corner.

Uzbekistan attacked relentlessly but failed to find an equaliser, frustrating the capacity crowd with a plethora of poor crosses and wayward shots and some desperate Australian defending.

The top two teams in each group qualify for the 32-team finals in South Africa. A fifth Asian team can advance via an inter-confederation playoff.

Results (Asian zone qualifiers):

Group 1:

Qatar 1 Bahrain 1

Uzbekistan 0 Australia 1

Group 2:

UAE 1 Saudi Arabia 2

N. Korea 1 S. Korea 1.

—Agencies