By Cho Mu-hyun
The Under-23 team’s place at the London Olympics is far from secure after an Asian Football Confederation’s (AFC) decision to overturn the result of a match between Oman and Qatar, Thursday.
The game originally finished as a 1-1 draw on Nov. 27, but the AFC has now awarded Oman a 3-0 victory.
Qatar played midfielder Abdelaziz Hatim, who was ineligible as he had reached the yellow-card limit and had been suspended. Asia’s football governing body added it has fined the Qatar Football Association (QFA) $7,600 for breaking the rules.
Prior to the decision, Korea led Group A of the Asian Olympic qualifiers with seven points, with Omar and Qatar following behind with four points each, and Saudi Arabia last with one.
The winners from the three Asian groups earn a berth at the Summer Games, while the runners-up enter a round-robin playoff. The victorious team will then face Senegal for a spot in London.
Oman is now just a point behind Korea at six, with both sides with the same goal difference of three. Qatar has two points and virtually no chance of advancing directly to the Olympics.
Korea travels to Saudi Arabia on Monday (KST) while Oman faces Qatar same day. Korea is then away to Oman on Feb. 23. The final group game will take place at home on March 14 against Qatar. A loss in any of the matches would put increasing pressure on the squad.
Manager Hong Myung-bo is currently undefeated in the final qualifying stage with two wins and a draw. The U-23s entered and won the weeklong King’s Cup last month in Bangkok, Thailand, in preparation for the last Olympic qualifiers.
Hong announced the final roster of 21 players on Jan. 25 that includes FC Seoul’s Kim Hyun-sung, Jeonbuk Motor’s Seo Jung-jin and the J-League’s Jubilo Iwata’s Baek Sung-dong, who all made positive contributions in the King’s Cup.
Led by the 42-year-old Hong, the squad left for a training camp in Doha, Qatar on Jan. 26 to further prepare for the Middle East fixtures that will determine whether Korea will participate in the Olympics for the seventh consecutive time and its ninth attendance overall.