Korea marches on with 1-0 win over Kuwait

Koo Ja-cheol, left, vies for the ball in the World Cup qualifier against Kuwait, Friday. Korea won 1-0. / Yonhap

By John Duerden

No Son Heung-min, no problem for South Korea. Well, not quite, but the team went to Kuwait for the toughest test in the second round of qualification for the 2018 World Cup and won 1-0.

It was not exactly a sparkling performance, but coach Uli Stielike will not mind. The facts are there for all to see: Korea has won all four games in the group, without conceding a goal.

Koo Ja-cheol provided the only goal after 12 minutes and a fine one it was too, a strike that was “made in Germany.” Borussia Dortmund's Park Joo-ho crossed from the left and the Augsburg man was there to head powerfully into the net.

“It was a good cross and I got on the end of it,” said Koo modestly. “We had been working on arriving late in the area and that is what happened.”

If there was a complaint, it was that the Taeguk Warriors were a little conservative following the goal and that the standard was a little sloppy compared to recent performances.

But this was a very good win. Kuwait, an improving team, had won all three of its previous games previously and needed to win this. Goalkeeper Kim Seung-gyu had some saves to make, a vital one right at the end, to preserve another clean sheet for a team that has conceded a paltry three goals in 17 games in 2015.

But the 2002 World Cup semi-finalists came close to extending the lead and would have done so if not for the athleticism of the Kuwait keeper.

Stielike, in his 13 months in charge, has not only tightened a defense that has long been a cause for worry, but seems to be giving the team an ability to win in tough circumstances without playing especially well.

“There's no doubt Kuwait was the toughest opponent we've faced so far in the qualification stage,” he said. “We weren't quite as aggressive as we should have been in the first half, but I think we got better in the second half.

“Considering the number of chances we generated and our advantage in ball possession, I think we deserved to win.”

There are four games left, and because only the team that wins the group will go through to the next round, Korea needs to keep its eye on the ball. Even so, three of those matches will be at home, with the one away in Laos.

Korea should be able to manage it all with few problems and even start preparing for the final stage when the tests will be much tougher.

For now, though ,there is a trip home to take on Jamaica on Tuesday in a friendly, a good chance to play some non-Asian opposition. The team can do so full of confidence in the knowledge that qualification for the 2018 World Cup is going very well indeed.