JEDDAH, 21 November 2007 — Saudi Arabia face Japan today in a must-win away final match of Group C Beijing Olympics Asian Qualifiers football tournament.

The Saudis face a daunting task in the match that starts at 1:20 p.m. Saudi time. With 8 points from 2 wins, 2 draws and 1 loss the Kingdom have only one option as against Japan who would qualify with either a win or a draw.

Japan lead the group with 10 points from 3 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss.

The Saudi team kept their hopes alive when they secured a very important victory against Qatar last Saturday 2-1. The Saudi team had very bumpy start, and after the first round of the home-and-away group matches not many people thought that there would be hope for them to qualify. The Kingdom lost 1-0 to Qatar Olympic team in Qatar, drew 0-0 against Japan in Dammam and 1-1 against Vietnam in Vietnam. With only 2 points in the first round, it was a very difficult mission for the Saudis in the second half because it means that the Saudi team need to win all the matches.

In the second round, the Saudis secured an important win against Vietnam 2-0, against Qatar 2-1 and the last station will be against Japan in Japan today.

The Japanese team secured two important wins against Vietnam and Qatar 1-0 in each match and 0-0 against Saudi and collected 7 points.

Japan suffered a 2-1 away loss to Qatar in Qatar but secured and important win against Vietnam 4-0 and left with only one match against Saudi.