Korea Republic overcame the absence of Son Heung-min and Hwang Hee-chan to hand Lebanon a 1-0 defeat at Saida Municipal Stadium in Group A of the AFC Asian Qualifiers - Road to Qatar and move to the verge of qualifying for the FIFA World Cup finals.
Cho Gue-sung's first half stoppage time strike secured Korea Republic a 1-0 win over Lebanon in Group A of the AFC Asian Qualifiers - Road to Qatar on Thursday.
Cho Gue-sung’s goal in first half injury time was the difference between the sides on a blustery afternoon on Lebanon’s Mediterranean coast and the win takes Paulo Bento’s side onto 17 points from seven games.
Victory means the the Koreans will qualify for a 10th straight FIFA World Cup finals and 11th in total if the United Arab Emirates do not defeat Syria later on Thursday.
Tottenham Hotspur striker Son and Hwang of Wolverhampton Wanderers were both ruled out of the game due to injury, meaning Bento chose to lead his attack with Hwang Ui-jo and Cho Gue-sung.
The pair squandered half chances in an uninspiring opening 30 minutes for the visitors, and it was the home side who carved out the first serious opening six minutes before the interval.
Maher Sabra headed down Hassan Maatouk’s free kick from the right and Alexander Melki’s shot came back off the crossbar. The rebound fell to the feet of his brother, Felix, and he steered the ball wide of Kim Seung-gyu’s left post.
It was a miss the Lebanese were to regret. A minute into time added on at the end of the half, Hwang Ui-jo stole half a pace on his marker down the left and fizzed in an inviting low cross that Cho Gue-sung directed past Matar with a deft touch of his right boot as he slid in.
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