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SEOUL, March 28 (Yonhap) — Sitting fairly atop their group with a spot on this yr’s FIFA World Cup already secured, South Korea will look to shut out the regional qualifying section on a excessive word towards the United Arab Emirates (UAE) this week.
South Korea will tackle the UAE at Al Maktoum Stadium in Dubai at 5:45 p.m. Tuesday (native time), or 10:45 p.m. Tuesday (Seoul time).
It will likely be the final matchday in Group A of the ultimate Asian qualification spherical for the World Cup. South Korea at the moment lead the group with 23 factors as the one undefeated nation amongst six, having overwhelmed Iran 2-0 at house final Thursday for his or her seventh win, towards two attracts. Iran, with 22 factors from seven wins, one draw and one loss, are in second place.
These two nations have lengthy locked down their spots within the massive match as the highest two groups in Group A. They solely have the highest seed left to play for on Tuesday.
With Iran favored to beat Lebanon of their finale, South Korea will doubtless should beat the UAE to complete on prime.
The UAE may have loads at stake. With the highest two-ranked nations from Teams A and B qualifying immediately for the World Cup, No. 3 seeds from the 2 teams will meet in a playoff, the winner of which can then transfer on to a different, intercontinental playoff for the ultimate shot at making the World Cup. The UAE at the moment have a one-point edge over Iraq, 9-8, in third place. Iraq will play Syria on Tuesday.
Of their earlier assembly in November, South Korea beat the UAE 1-0, behind Hwang Hee-chan’s Thirty sixth-minute penalty. The ultimate rating wasn’t an correct reflection of how totally South Korea outplayed their opponents.
And South Korea head coach Paulo Bento has repeatedly talked about his need to win Group A, even with the objective of qualifying for the World Cup already completed. Beating Iran for the primary time in 11 years actually helped, and now Bento’s gamers must deal with one ultimate piece of enterprise.
Captain Son Heung-min scored a formidable objective towards Iran for his fourth objective of the ultimate qualification spherical and moved right into a five-way tie for the lead in that class.
And Son will as soon as once more have to hold the offensive load for a staff hit arduous by COVID-19. Three gamers have been changed earlier than the beginning of coaching camp final Monday after testing constructive for the virus. Then two extra gamers, together with up-and-coming striker Cho Gue-sung, have been contaminated with COVID-19 inside the previous seven days.
Striker Hwang Ui-jo will attempt to finish his worldwide objective scoring drought that reached 9 matches final week. Hwang has but to seek out the again of the online within the ultimate spherical, although he nonetheless has essentially the most objectives amongst all South Korean gamers throughout Bento’s tenure with 13 objectives in 32 appearances.
South Korea might be making their tenth consecutive look on the World Cup in November in Qatar. The draw is scheduled for Friday within the host nation.
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