By Martin Petty
BANGKOK, Thailand (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia and Bahrain spurned their chances of a smoother passage to the World Cup finals on Wednesday after failing to clinch vital away wins against two teams already through to South Africa.

Both countries must now contest final matches next week to decide who takes the remaining automatic berth and the two playoff spots.

Bahrain lost 2-0 to a weakened Australian team in Sydney, while the Saudis were held to a goalless draw by South Korea in Seoul.

Elsewhere, already-qualified Japan secured a 1-1 draw with Qatar in Yokohama, with an own goal after three minutes effectively ending the Gulf side’s faint hopes of reaching their first finals.

The five teams in contention will now gear up for a thrilling finale on June 17 for the three remaining places.

The Saudis are level on 11 points with North Korea, whom they will meet in Riyadh to decide the second automatic place in Group Two.

With Japan and Australia already through, Bahrain must avoid a home defeat by Uzbekistan to gain Group One’s playoff place.

Australia held their unbeaten record with a second-string team after goals from Mile Sterjovski and David Carney.

SLOW START
They started off slowly but picked up the pace and scored twice after the break, with Scott McDonald also going close and Harry Kewell and Jason Culina hitting the woodwork.

“I think we created enough chances to score more than two goals,” Socceroos coach Pim Verbeek said in a televised interview. “We were probably not really sharp enough to finish it off.”

Qatar needed to win to keep alive their hopes of qualifying for the World Cup for the first time.

Japan went in front after just three minutes after an own goal from Ahmed Ali Albinali but the Qataris levelled through an Ali Yahya penalty in the 53rd minute.

Japan appeared to lack focus or direction having already qualified on Saturday for their fourth finals. Coach Takeshi Okada apologised to fans and the players were first to admit they could have done better.

“We wasted a lot of energy tonight by making things too difficult,” playmaker Shunsuke Nakamura told reporters.

“We wore ourselves out and still have a lot of areas to improve on.”

In Seoul, 10-man Saudi Arabia made no impact in their penultimate game, with South Korea dominating play and Park Ji-sung the provider throughout the game.

Ahmed Ateef was sent off after collecting a second yellow card as the Saudis failed to press ahead and steal a winner to boost their hopes of reaching the finals.