It really is a magnificent seven. Asia’s most successful team has booked a place at the World Cup yet again. South Korea defeated UAE 2-0 in the early hours of Sunday morning Seoul time to seal a place in South Africa. First, the details. It was a comfortable win against the bottom team of the group. Park Chu-young finished well after eight minutes to put the Taeguk Warriors on their way. Eight minutes before half-time, Ki Sung-yung took advantage of a goalkeeping mistake to make it 2-0. The host, with one point from a previous six matches, was never likely to recover and thanks to the fact that Iran and North Korea tied 0-0 earlier in the day, it was enough.

It is an interesting and, one can almost say, exciting squad. It is customary to bash the national team coach of South Korea after he announces every important roster but ahead of the 2010 World Cup qualifier in the United Arab Emirates on June 6, Huh Jung-moo looks to have done a good job. Of course, naming the roster is only the first step towards completing the main job of taking the Taeguk Warriors to Al Maktoum Stadium in Dubai and getting the three points that will put the 2002 semi-finalists on the brink of a place in South Africa in 12 months’ time. In his 18 months as coach, Huh has demonstrated repeatedly that he is happy to give young players a chance if they are playing well in the K-League and he has done that once again. Three new faces have been called in the 25-man squad, some of which will gather in the National Football Center in Paju on May 28 before jetting off to the Gulf two days later where they will be joined by European-based stars such as Park Ji-sung, Cho Won-hee and Lee Young-pyo.

There was a moment during Wednesday’s World Cup qualification match between South Korea and UAE in Seoul that may prove to be a turning point in the team’s fortunes. Korea dominated the match at Seoul World Cup Stadium, just like they had numerous times in the past. With 20 minutes of the match remaining, it was 2-0 and really should have been more. Chances had been missed, flying saves made and woodwork whacked. Despite that, at least two goals had been scored and 2-0 would have been acceptable prior to the match. Then, as happened against Jordan in the previous round of qualification and against Iran and Syria in Asian Cup qualification, Korea followed domination and missed chances by giving away a goal in comical circumstances. Facing his own goal at the edge of the penalty area, Cho Yong-hyong, under pressure from Islam Salem, elected to turn and try to dribble past the UAE attacker instead of booting the ball into touch. Predictably, Salem took the ball, dribbled round startled goalkeeper Jugn Sung-ryong to score. The next five minutes were nervy and most of the fans fully expected a desperate fight to protect the three points.Unlike in the past however, a Korean striker was around to take some pressure off the team with clinical finishing. Lee Keun-ho has been scoring goals for Daegu for two seasons now and has been on the fringes of the national team for around half that time. The former Incheon United player - the gritty port city club has a habit of jettisoning players that later turn out to be selected for South Korea - is the latest star in the Land of the Morning Calm. He wasn’t even an automatic choice for the national team until last week. Lee came on at half-time in a friendly match against Uzbekistan and scored twice in the second half. That was enough to earn a place in the starting eleven against UAE. Just as he did against Uzbekistan, Lee missed his first chance that was easier than the others. Midway through the He showed great movement to put himself in a position to score the firstt goal and then, five minutes after UAE pulled one back, Lee sealed the win for the hosts. It was a great finish and provided a hint that Korea’s new young guns could be made of sterner stuff mentally than some of their recent predecessors. Ki Sung-young, Lee Chung-young, Lee Keun-ho and Jung Sung-hoon all enjoyed themselves against the Uzbeks and UAE but tougher tests lie ahead. There are none tougher in Asian football than visits to Saudi Arabia. If the youngsters can pull off a similar performance against a much more formidable West Asian team then that really could be something worth getting excited about. "The players have now regained their confidence," Park ji-sung said. "If we can keep the atmosphere alive, we can get a good result in Saudi Arabia.” Copyright: John Duerden & Soccerphile.com Bet with Bet 365 World Soccer News Soccer betting tips Soccer Books & DVDs Tags Soccer News soccer football J-League K-League Betting

A World Cup qualifier against UAE would not usually be a huge game but Wednesday’s clash in Seoul promises to be a big, big night for South Korean football. What should happen in such a situation, and what has usually happened in the past, is that the host enjoys a fairly comfortable victory and takes a step towards what would be a seventh successive World Cup. And yet, there are nerves everywhere. Nerves at the Korean Football Association that the team will miss out, dealing a huge blow to the sport in the Land of the Morning Calm, nerves among the media who don’t want to imagine a World Cup without Korea, nerves among the players who dream of the chance to showcase their talents on the biggest stage of all, nerves among the fans who are rightly proud of Korea’s World Cup record and nerves among the coaching staff who could soon find themselves out of a job. A 1-1 tie against North Korea in Shanghai in September was a reasonable, if slightly disappointing result –though the performance was poor- and leaves no room for error at home against the weakest member of the group. As well as North Korea and UAE, Asian powerhouses Iran and Saudi Arabia are the other two members of the group. Only the top two progresses to South Africa - third place means play-offs and if you thought things were tense now, winner-takes-all elimination games play havoc with the blood pressure. But that is way in the future. With tricky trips to Riyadh, against a team that Korea has lost three and tied two of its last five games, and Tehran where the East Asians have never won an official match, up next, it is imperative that the full three points are deposited in the bank tonight. If not, coach Huh Jung-moo is likely to be out of the door and a big-name foreign coach drafted in as a jittery KFA looks to salvage the campaign before it is too late. Huh is showing no signs of the pressure and has vowed to attack the West Asians from the beginning. There are some absentees. Kim Do-heon, Lee Chun-soo, Kim Chi-gon, Kim Jin-kyu, Jung Jo-gook and Lee Jang-soo are injured. Captain Kim Nam-il is suspended but there is some good news. UAE is in something of a crisis. The West Asians have played two games so far, both at home and both were lost. In September, coach Bruno Metsu, who almost took the South Korean job in 2004, jumped ship to nearby Qatar. Fellow Frenchman Dominique Bathenay is expected to play it safe in Seoul but knows that a good result could resurrect UAE’s World Cup dreams. “South Korea is a strong team,” said a tired-looking Bathaney as he arrived at Incheon International Airport on Monday. “We know many of their players but we are going to focus just on our own team and how we are going to play. It looks as if two from South Korea, Iran and Saudi Arabia will qualify. We have struggled from the beginning but there is still a chance for us. It will be a tough match against South Korea but we will fight for our lives until the end.” That end will be virtually guaranteed if the UAE loses in Seoul. Ismail Matar is the one to watch out for. Small but stocked full of silky skills, he scored four out of seven UAE goals in the previous round of qualification and is presented with gifts of camels on a regular basis from fans. Korea warmed up for the UAE game against Uzbekistan on Saturday and won 3-0. All three goals were impressive as were the players that scored them. Talented teenagers Lee Chung-yung and Ki Sung-yung play together for FC Seoul and combined well for the first goal. Daegu’s Lee Keun-ho scored twice in the second, doing enough to earn a starting place. “The goal has given me confidence,” said Ki who scored the only goal against North Korea in Shanghai. “It has also made me greedy for more and I am looking for a third consecutive goal against UAE. It will not be an easy game for us but we are capable of getting a good result.” As tests go, the Uzbekistan game was not the best as the Central Asians were happy to attack Korea, leaving holes at the back. There will be no such easy pickings in the northwest corner of Seoul this evening. UAE prepared by drawing 1-1 in Japan last week. It was a good result though the Japanese missed a host of chances and allowed UAE to score on the counter-attack. It is a scenario not unfamiliar to Korean fans and a repeat tonight would signal the start of a turbulent few weeks in Korean soccer. Despite all the nerves, that shouldn’t happen as Korea look set to take a step closer to South Africa. copyright: John Duerden & Soccerphile.com Bet with Bet 365 World Soccer News Soccer betting tips Soccer Books & DVDs Tags Soccer News soccer football J-League K-League Betting