Pressure mounts on South Korea's Huh Jung-moo [GALLO/GETTY]

There could be a fourth casualty by the end of the third round of Asian qualification on October 15, especially if South Korea fails to defeat the United Arab Emirates at Seoul.

Anything other than a win is tipped to result in South Korean boss Huh Jung-moo joining the coaches of the UAE, Qatar and Uzbekistan in looking for a new job.

All change

It has been a dizzying week of coaching changes as the ten teams, split into two groups of five, vie for one of the top two spots that bring automatic qualifying for South Africa.

Uzbekistan was strongly tipped to challenge in Group One, but two defeats in its opening two games to Qatar and Australia ultimately cost coach Rauf Inileev his job.

Bruno Metsu resigned as coach of the UAE after losses to North Korea and Saudi Arabia at home left it winless after two matches in Group Two.

Ironically, the Frenchman is a prime candidate to take the Qatar job after Jorge Fossati of Uruguay left the post to recover from surgery.

Big pressure

Qatar, currently leading Group One with four points, travels to Australia on October 15.

On the same day, the UAE travels to Seoul for a game that could spell the end of South Korea's Huh.

South Korea has played one match so far, a lackluster 1-1 draw with rival North Korea at Shanghai that was criticized by more than just the media and fans.

"North Korea looked threatening while we did not," said Lee Hoi-taek, head of the Korean Football Association's technical committee.

"It is coach Huh's homework to strengthen the mentality of the team, while helping the players based overseas and at home combine well.

"We have given many kinds of advice to the coaching staff."

Bruno Metsu was a recent casualty of UAE after losses to North Korea and Saudi Arabia [GALLO/GETTY]

Seen as a second-choice candidate who was given the South Korea job due to success in the domestic cup competitions rather than in the league, Huh has been compared to ex-England boss Steve McClaren, who failed to take his team to Euro 2008.

After public rejections from one-time Ireland coach Mick McCarthy and former Liverpool and France manager Gerard Houllier, Huh's appointment in December was met with an underwhelming response.

Although Huh led South Korea through the previous round of qualification,
performances were uninspiring and concerns are growing in Seoul that the team
will not appear at the World Cup for the first time since 1982.

Facing criticism

"I am responsible for everything," Huh said after the North Korea match.

"But it is not good to criticise too much.

"Everything starts now and the next game is the important one."

Failure to win the upcoming match against the UAE, seen as the weakest team of the group, would be a huge setback in South Korea's quest to reach a seventh successive World Cup.

It would also make it difficult for Huh to survive, especially with tough trips to Saudi Arabia and Iran next in line.

Roberto Donadoni is tipped as a potential Saudi coach [GALLO/GETTY]

The Saudis are no stranger to swapping coaches and have done so 16 times since 1994.

Nasser Al Johar, like Huh, is in his third spell in charge of the national team, but feels far from secure,

"All I want to do is to win the game and to prove that I am not an emergency coach," Al Johar said before drawing 1-1 with Iran in the opening match.

A subsequent 2-1 win at the UAE hasn't prevented Italy's Euro 2008 manager
Roberto Donadoni being linked to the Saudi job.

Bahrain manager Milan Macala knows only too well the fickle fortunes of coaching in the Middle East, having previously been fired from the Saudi, Oman and UAE coaching positions in recent years.

The Czech tactician's job with Bahrain is also not secure after the team collected just one point from two matches so far.

In contrast, Australia's Pim Verbeek, Takeshi Okada of Japan, Iran's Ali Daei and Kim Jong Hun of North Korea appear to be safe in their jobs, though the last week has shown that the situation can change quickly.