Asia's third round qualification stage is under way and for Saudi Arabia and Oman, it was an uneventful matter with both sides playing to a scoreless draw on Friday. It was the first match for both sides since advancing to the third round of the continental qualifying campaign for the World Cup in Brazil in 2014. Saudi Arabia had previously demolished Hong Kong 8-0 on aggregate in the second round and Oman had advanced to the Group stage by defeating Myanmar 4-0 after the final leg match in Rangoon was forced to be abandoned as a result of crowd trouble, but were leading 2-0 in that match. Saudi Arabia is looking to qualify for their fifth World Cup finals after having not advanced to South Africa in 2010, but will face an uphill task on Tuesday when they host Australia, who defeated Thailand 2-1, despite being down at half-time. Oman will go to Bangkok to play an upstart Thailand squad, who missed a number of opportunities to knock off the Socceroos in their opening match. BM
