[서울=뉴스핌] Reporter Kim Yong-seok = Korean football lost to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for the first time in 16 years. This put an end to Bentu’s undefeated streak.
| Amid chaos due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Venturo has stopped their undefeated streak. The photo shows the Korean soccer team including Son Heung-min after the match against Iran. [사진= 로이터 뉴스핌] |
The Korean national football team (No. 29 in FIFA ranking), led by coach Paulo Bento, lost 0-1 to UAE (No. 69) in the away match of Group A of the Asian final qualifying round for Qatar World Cup held at Al Maktoum Stadium in Dubai on the 29th.
Bentuho, who had already confirmed their qualification to the World Cup finals for the 10th consecutive time in the 8th game, tried to finish the qualifier with the first place in the group, but collapsed due to poor performance. It is the first time they have lost to the UAE since the 0-1 loss in the evaluation match in Dubai in January 2006 16 years ago.
Bentuho, who conceded the winning goal to Harib Abdallah in the 9th minute of the second half, also stopped their undefeated streak in the A match since March 25, 2021 with their first defeat in the final qualifying round. Also, since the 2010 South African competition (3 wins and 3 draws in the 2nd qualifier, 4 wins and 4 draws in the final qualifier), they did not achieve a World Cup qualifier undefeated in 12 years. Korea finished the preliminary round with 7 wins, 2 draws and 1 loss (23 points), placing 2nd in the group after Iran (25 points, 8 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss).
The UAE won the Qatar World Cup finals through the play-offs (PO) by playing pressure football and winning over Korea, which had Hwang Ui-jo (Bordeaux) as the top team. The UAE will play in a play-off against Australia, who placed third in Group B. The draw for the Bentu, who failed to place first in the group, will be held on April 2nd in Doha, Qatar.
In the Bentoo, MF Ko Seung-beom (CEO Kim Cheon), who played in the final qualifier due to the recent spread of Corona, caught the new coronavirus infection (Corona 19) again.
The Korea Football Association said on the 30th, “Ko Seung-beom tested positive for the Corona 19 gene amplification (PCR) test conducted the previous day. action will be taken,” he said.
Seung-beom Ko joined Bentuho as a replacement for Jin-gyu Kim (Jeonbuk), who was infected with Corona 19.