Korea Republic men’s national team claimed all three points against Lebanon on the road. 

Cho Guesung scored the only goal of the match, as Paulo Bento’s side defeated Lebanon 1-0 in their seventh match of the Asian Qualifiers final round for the 2022 FIFA World Cup at the Municipal Stadium in Saida, Lebanon on Thursday. Having earned 17 points on a seven-game unbeaten run (five wins and two draws) in the final round, Korea Republic stayed in second place behind Iran (19 points with six wins and a draw), who beat Iraq on the same day to qualify for Qatar 2022. Now the Taegeuk Warriors are set to take on Syria in their eighth match of the final round in Dubai, UAE on Tuesday.

Korea Republic came within a whisker of reaching their tenth consecutive FIFA World Cup finals. In another Group A fixture, third-placed UAE defeated Syria 2-0 to stay eight points adrift of the automatic qualification berths with three matches remaining in the final round. But Korea Republic can still qualify for the world finals, should they beat Syria next week to secure second place in the group.

A total of 4.5 tickets are allocated to Asia, with each group winners and runners-up reaching the world finals and third-placed teams to go through the playoffs.

Bento deployed forwards in the afternoon, as he tested the partnership between Kim Gunhee and Cho Guesung in a 4-0 win over Moldova last Friday. This time, however, Cho’s strike partner was in-form Bordeaux marksman Hwang Uijo.

Lee Jaesung, Hwang Inbeom and Kwon Changhoon started behind the top two, with Jung Wooyoung given a defensive midfield role. Kim Jinsu, Kim Younggwon, Kim Minjae and Lee Yong at the back, and Kim Seunggyu between the sticks.

Korea Republic struggled to start off from the right foot, with the rough pitch conditions at the Municipal Stadium preventing them from playing their passing game. It was not easy for them to control the ball well as low passes ended up going to unexpected directions with irregular bounds. Therefore, they were forced to lob their passes, not sticking to low passes, whilst providing ammunition from the flanks to support the two strikers up front.

The combination between Hwang and Cho was on right from the outset. Goalkeeper Kim Seunggyu fed the ball to Cho on the left flank and as Cho sent a low cross into the path of an onrushing Hwang, Mostafa Matar came off his line to smother the ball.

Hwang was the first amongst the duo to grab a good chance. On 16 minutes, Lee Yong’s cross from the right was connected with a glancing header by Hwang but his shot went straight at the keeper. And then Hwang just could not reach an inviting cross from Kim Jinsu on 34 minutes.

After a series of missed opportunities, Korea Republic were almost punished for their profligacy on the stroke of half-time. A free-kick from the right channel was nodded down by Maher Sabra into the path of Robert Alexander Melki, whose pointblank effort smashed the crossbar. George Felix Melki latched onto the rebound, only to drag his shot wide of the right post.

However, it was the visitors that drew first blood deep into added time. Hwang and Cho combined to create an opening, as a left-footed cross from Hwang found Cho lurking into the space behind the Lebanese rearguard. Cho fired home with a swift volley to score his second goal for Korea Republic since he opened his account against Iceland two weeks ago.

Despite having taken a 1-0 lead, Korea Republic found themselves on the back foot, as the hosts reshuffled their side with a double substitution to come out strong into the second half. Felix Melki saw his mid-range effort ricochet the left upright, although the linesman raised his flag up for offside on the ensuing Lebanese attack.

But the visitors soon regrouped to fight back with a series of dangerous efforts. Kwon Changhoon saw his shot from the right side of the box hit the side netting with ten minutes remaining, before Hwang’s effort from the similar spot was denied by Matar.

At the opposite end, the hosts won a free-kick from the right side of the area in the closing minutes. Captain Hassan Maatouk found Fadel Antar unmarked in a promising position, only for the substitute striker to head the ball just over the crossbar.

Korea Republic eventually claimed all three points on the road, without using any substitutes – a feat repeated for the first time in 15 years and three months since Pim Verbeek’s charges drew 1-1 with Syria at Seoul World Cup Stadium on 11 October 2006 during the qualifying campaign for the 2007 AFC Asian Cup.

Asian Qualifiers Final Round for FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022

Group A

Lebanon 0-1 Korea Republic

Scorer: Cho Guesung 45’+1

KOR: Kim Seunggyu; Kim Jinsu, Kim Younggwon, Kim Minjae, Lee Yong; Jung Wooyoung; Lee Jaesung, Hwang Inbeom, Kwon Changhoon; Cho Guesung, Hwang Uijo