The Saudis have been drawn to face Uzbekistan, Singapore and Lebanon in the third round of Asia's qualifying tournament for the finals in South Africa, with the top two teams progressing to the last phase, which will determine the continent's participants in 2010.

But while the Saudis, qualifiers for each of the last four World Cups and finalists at the recent Asian Cup, and Uzbekistan have been installed as favourites, Al Qahtani has called for respect to be shown to all of his team's opponents.

"Everybody is talking about Uzbekistan and Saudi Arabia and saying we are favourites but it's not the case," said Al Qahtani, who is on the final shortlist for the Asian Player of the Year award.

"The World Cup qualifiers are played on a home and away basis and you have to earn qualification. That's not easy. You might win at home but then lose away.

"You have to respect the teams who have qualified for this stage. It's not easy."

Al Qahtani is joined on the three-man shortlist for Asian football's most prestigious individual prize by Iraqi duo Nashat Akram and Younis Mahmoud, with the award being presented at a gala dinner in Sydney on Wednesday evening.

All three are hoping to follow in the footsteps of such illustrious names such as Hidetoshi Nakata, Ali Daei and Shinji Ono, who all went on to forge significant careers in some of Europe's leading leagues.

"I think the award will do a lot for us as players to popularise our names in Europe and have European clubs follow Asian players," said Al Qahtani. "But it's not just all about the award, although it helps me a lot to popularise my name.

"But the consistency in performance is more important so I have to be more consistent for European clubs to watch me."

After turning down a number of offers to play in Europe after his performance for Saudi Arabia at the 2006 World Cup finals in Germany, Al Qahtani stressed that any prospective move would need to be advantageous for both him and the Saudis.

"Every player wishes to play in Europe but having said that, I also play for a very big club and there has to be a benefit for me and my country if I am to go to play in Europe," he said.