Saudi Arabia’s Green Falcons squeezed out a 1-0 win over the Carthage Eagles of Tunisia in an international friendly played at Stade 7 Novembre in Rades Tunisia.

Tunisia, who on Sunday scored a goal against Kenya after only 27 seconds were also caught napping when Saudi Arabia went up in the second minute of the game through Chohrani.

Their fight back after the shock goal didn’t bear any fruit as the Green Falcons held their slim win until the last minute.

Tunisia were using the friendly as an early preparation for an epic 2010 World Cup showdown against Mozambique which the Carthage Eagles must win to seal direct qualification to South Africa no matter the results of the other group matches.

Tunisia leads their group with 11 points while Nigeria who also beat Mozambique with the same margin are second with nine points.

The Saudi’s were eliminated from the World Cup contention last month by Bahrain who held them to a 2-2 draw. The Falcons were supposed to win the match to keep their dreams of progressing to a play-off against New Zealand alive.

The defeat is a dent to Tunisia’s confidence, but a trip to South Africa looks a heartbeat away.

The loss can though be a wake-up call for coach Humberto Coelho and the players to shape up in the next four weeks to solidify their dreams of travelling to South Africa next year.