Korea could seal World Cup berth this week

By John Duerden

Thursday could be the day that South Korea qualifies for the 2022 World Cup, which is set to be held in the State of Qatar. All it takes is for the team to win in Lebanon and then the United Arab Emirates (UAE) not to be defeated in Syria on the same day. Such an outcome will mean that the Taeguk Warriors will be officially preparing for a tenth successive appearance on the world stage.

With Korea eight points clear of the UAE in the group with four games to go, Paulo Bento and his men can afford a couple of missteps in the next few weeks. Better though to get the deal done sooner rather than later, so that the necessary World Cup preparations can really begin.

Korea has met Lebanon plenty of times in qualification rounds over the years, with an infamous loss in 2011 costing the then-coach, Cho Kwang-rae, his job. There will be no underestimating the Cedars, especially on home turf. Lebanon has been a tough opponent so far in qualification rounds, losing just 1-0 to Korea in September in Suwon. In November, the Cedars were 1-0 ahead against group leaders Iran, and minutes away from a famous victory only to concede two late goals.

It will certainly be a battle and to prepare for the two games, Bento took his domestic-based players, currently out of season of course, to Turkey for a training camp. It also included warm-up matches with Iceland and Moldova ― games that were won 9-1 on aggregate. The team played some excellent and fluid, attacking soccer.

Korea defeated Iceland 5-1 on Jan. 15, the biggest ever win for the Taeguk Warriors ever against European opposition, outstripping the famous 4-1 victory over Scotland just before the 2002 World Cup. Then there was a 4-0 win over Moldova on Friday.

It should be pointed out that this current team is not the Iceland team that reached the last eight of the 2016 European Championships, beating England along the way. Regardless, the two victories will not harm the team's confidence, with the likes of Eom Ji-sung and Kim JIn-gyu getting their first international goals. More experienced campaigners such as Kwon Chang-hoon got in on the act against Moldova as well.

The two warm-ups were about looking at players and giving them a chance to show what they can do. In that aspect, it was a success.

“Both results and performances were good,” said Bento after the Moldova win. “Whichever system we played, the players and tactics we used were good. There is still some more work to do, as we have not achieved our goal yet.”

Over the weekend, Bento will finalize which players will return to South Korea to rejoin their clubs and which will head to Lebanon to be joined by a number of European-based stars. It remains to be seen if he calls Son Heung-min and Hwang Hee-chan, as the English Premier League forwards have been injured and not played for their clubs for some time.

On last week's showings however, they may not be needed, as Korea looks to get the points that will take the team to a tenth successive World Cup.