ABU DHABI, Sept 5: The United Arab Emirates and North Korea both begin their final Asian qualifying round for the 2010 World Cup at the Bin Zayed Stadium here on Saturday, hoping to make a perfect start to their quest of reaching only their second-ever finals.

The UAE, under charismatic coach Bruno Metsu, will look for a repeat of their run which took them to Italy in 1990, while the only time North Korea made it to the final was in 1966 in England, when they surprised many by reaching the last eight.

And as the two teams square up for the opening Group B match, the coaches were exuding confidence about their team’s chances.

“We have the advantage of playing two home matches and we definitely want to win them so that we are in a strong position to qualify for South Africa.”—AFP