A scoreless draw, despite close calls

June 10th, 2009 | by: Laura-Claire | Comments Off

The Korea Republic and Saudi Arabia fought to a scoreless draw Wednesday night at World Cup Stadium in Seoul, despite Korea’s several close-call goals in the second half.

Both at 54 minutes in and just minutes before the end of the second half, Korea nearly scored, missing the goal just inches both times. The closest chance came from Park Chu Young, whose shot grazed the cross bar.

The game lost some of its luster as Korea qualified for the World Cup June 6, beating the United Arab Emirates 2-0 in Dubai.

For Saudi Arabia, however, a win would’ve aided them significantly as the team currently stands in third place in the Asian Group B cup standings. Now, they’ll battle second-ranked North Korea June 17 in Riyadh, with the winner automatically qualifying for the World Cup finals, set to kickoff one year from today.

Nearly 33,000 crazed Korean fans showed up, wearing their bright Red Devil horns, Korean team scarves and numerous Ji Sung Park jerseys.

The final World Cup Qualifying match for the Red Devils is Wednesday, when Korea hosts Iran in Seoul.