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Asian World Cup Qualifiers - 2nd Round - South Korea v Kuwait

John Duerden reports from South Korea's opening match with Kuwait

On the first day of the New Year of the Rooster, Kuwait came to Seoul. Although an estimated half of Seoul's eleven million inhabitants had left the city to travel to their hometowns for the holidays, there were still enough people to almost fill Seoul World Cup Stadium on a freezing night in the Korean capital.

That the Koreans haven't recaptured the form of 2002 has been apparent to anybody with the slightest interest in Asian football. However, even though the team only needs to finish in the top two positions of a group containing Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan and Kuwait, there was still a sense of anxiety about the opening game of the final round of Asian qualifiers. That this was despite the fact that Korea thrashed Kuwait 4-0 during the Asian Cup last July only demonstrated the importance of the game.

A worrying 1-0 defeat in the same stadium at the hands of Egypt five days prior had demonstrated the failings of the side; lots of pressure but few clear-cut chances with a soft goal being conceded.

The visitors had won their group in the first round by the narrowest and most dramatic of margins by virtue of scoring one more goal than group favourites China. A December victory over Saudi Arabia reinforced the fact that the middle-easterners under the direction of new coach, Slobodan Pavkovic were not to be taken lightly.

Before the game, Korea's coach, Jo Bonfrere, predicted that the west Asians would play defensively and look to counter-attack; hoping that star striker Bashar Abdullah may be able to produce a goal.

The Dutchman was half-right as Abdullah was left on the bench watching as his team-mates were put under the cosh from the beginning by a lively Korean team. The return of European-based stars such as Seol Ki-hyeon and PSV's Park Ji-sung and Lee Young-pyo helped to produce a performance that was much improved from the Egypt loss.

Seol, from Wolves, wandered down the left causing a number of problems for the Kuwait defenders, with Kim Dong-jin of FC Seoul overlapping at every opportunity. Park Ji-sung looked lively in the middle of the park, linking attack and midfield effectively.

Kuwait offered nothing on a night which, to be honest, was probably shockingly cold to many of their players, with temperatures plummeting to minus eight degrees Celsius. After the game, Pavkovic explained that it was difficult for his team to play their usual passing game in such conditions.

He didn't explain why it was an hour before Abdullah was introduced to the action. By that time, Korea should have been out of sight but only a beautiful volley struck by Lee Dong-gook that flew into the net separated the two teams.

In was the seventh goal in the Gwangju striker's last seven competitive outings for his country but he should have added another ten minutes later when presented with a much simpler chance. 'Lee likes to score beautiful goals,' said his coach.

Even with Kuwait's star striker on the pitch, Lee Woon-jae in the Korean goal had almost nothing to do. The three-man Korean defence looked comfortable and Kuwait never managed to get enough players forward to seriously test them.

Nine minutes from the end, the famously pious Lee Young-pyo bundled in a shot from fifteen yards out that the Kuwaiti 'keeper Al-Fadhli should have saved.

It was no more than Korea deserved and three precious points were in the bag and with the other two teams in Group A, Saudi Arabia and Uzbekistan playing out a tight 1-1 draw in Tashkent it meant that the 2002 semi-finalists already enjoy a two-point lead in the group.

Bonfrere is too canny to sit back and relax. The ex-boss of Nigeria and Qatar knows that the problem remains of Korea's lack of a killer instinct.

South Korea coach Jo Bonfrere

Even with vast amounts of possession, the team only scored two goals. A better team than Kuwait could have equalised before the PSV star increased the home side's lead.

Traditionally, Saudi Arabia have been a much better side than Kuwait and it is to Riyadh where Korea will go next in an attempt to protect and perhaps extend its early advantage.

It is difficult to say whether the Saudis are better than Kuwait as Bonfrere admitted after the match but a game in the heat of Riyadh will surely be a great deal more testing than what Kuwait had to offer in Seoul.

Still, the victory will have provided the players with a much-needed confidence boost after four friendly games without a win. All the good work from the 3-1 pre-Christmas victory over Germany in Busan was undone with two draws against Sweden and Paraguay and two defeats inflicted by Colombia and Egypt. A win in Riyadh would see Korea with one foot already in Germany but a draw would be a satisfactory result.

However, though the first day of the Year of the Rooster may not have signalled the dawn of a new era for Korean football but it was an encouraging sign for the games ahead.

John Duerden

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