Korea, Japan and UAE now focus on Games

The Korean national U23 soccer team finished its group campaign with a goalless draw with Qatar on Wednesday at Seoul World Cup Stadium.

The draw saw Hong Myung-bo’s side, which had already secured a berth at the London Games, finish top of Group A in the Asian qualifying round undefeated, with three wins and three draws in six matches.

The final qualifying round saw 12 teams battle it out in three groups, with the top team from each group securing an automatic berth in the 16-team soccer tournament at the London Olympics. Second-placed countries will enter a playoff, with the winner to face Senegal for the final chance to qualify for the London Games.

Qatar went into Wednesday’s game ranked third in Group A behind Oman. Needing victory, Qatar pressed the home side hard, but failed to find the net despite a couple of chances.

The draw means Oman, which was held to a 1-1 draw with Saudi Arabia, progresses to the next round of Asian playoffs.

Japan, which failed to qualify in 2008, secured a place at the Olympics by beating Bahrain 2-0 in Tokyo. United Arab Emirates, which had not qualified in its eight previous attempts, came from 2-0 down to beat Uzbekistan 3-2 and qualify.

Oman joins Uzbekistan and Syria for the Asian playoffs scheduled March 25-29 in Vietnam.

The winner plays Senegal on April 23 for the final ticket to London.

Korea will be making its seventh consecutive Olympic appearance and ninth overall at the upcoming London Olympics in July.

By Oh Kyu-wook (596story@heraldcorp.com)