For co-host Indonesia, the stakes may be even higher.

South Korea, a 2002 World Cup semifinalist, has collected just one point from its opening two preliminary games in Jakarta and now sits at the bottom of Group D with one game remaining.

To reach the knockout stage, South Korea needs to beat Indonesia at the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta and hope Bahrain and Saudi Arabia don’t draw at Sumatra in their final match held simultaneously Wednesday.

A victory for Indonesia, which defeated Bahrain and lost to Saudi Arabia in its opening games, will send the team to its first Asian Cup quarterfinals. A draw will be sufficient if Bahrain loses.

Three-time Asian Cup winner Saudi Arabia, atop Group D on four points, is best placed to qualify, needing only a draw. Bahrain, which has three points, is looking for a win to ensure it goes through, but a tie would be enough if Indonesia does not beat South Korea.

South Korea’s Dutch-born coach Pim Verbeek, facing increasing criticism in Korea, remained upbeat about his team’s chances of advancing.

“We have the target to win the Asian Cup, which means we have to win every game and we have to start tomorrow,” he said Tuesday.

Saudi Arabia will face one of its toughest matches of this Asian Cup when it meets Gulf rival Bahrain.

“They know us and we know them,” Saudi striker Yasser Al Qahtani said Tuesday. “It will be a very difficult game.”

Bahrain and Saudi Arabia have met 15 times since 1988, with Bahrain only winning twice.

The top two Group D teams will meet the Group C qualifiers, to be decided from China, Uzbekistan and Iran in matches also Wednesday.

China plays Uzbekistan and Iran meets co-host Malaysia in simultaneous matches.

China and Iran are the current Group C leaders with four points each. Uzbekistan is one point behind, while winless Malaysia is out of contention.

Standings are decided by head-to-head record, followed by goal difference, meaning Uzbekistan needs a win Wednesday to advance. Even if it plays to a draw and Iran loses, both teams will be tied at four points. China and Iran would then qualify for the next stage, because Iran earlier beat Uzbekistan.

China beat Uzbekistan 3-1 in an international friendly at Macau in March, but coach Rauf Inileyev stressed that Uzbekistan team was then in the initial stages of selecting its players.

“You will see a different team compared to the one that played the match in Macau,” Inileyev said Tuesday.

Uzbekistan will be without defender Islom Inomov, who will serve a suspension after receiving two yellow cards during the matches against Malaysia and Iran last week.

China has lost midfielder Zheng Zhi and defender Li Weifeng, who also received yellow cards in their previous two games.

Malaysia has only pride to play for in its match after conceding 10 goals in its previous two group games to China and Uzbekistan — the most of any team in the 16-nation tournament.

Iran is unlikely to show much sympathy for the winless Malaysians, instead looking for a strong win to ensure the three-time champion tops Group C and remains in Kuala Lumpur for the quarterfinals.

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