INCHEON -- South Korea football coach Shin Tae-yong on Friday vowed to return home with a World Cup spot as the national team departed for Uzbekistan for its last qualifying match.
South Korea could have clinched their ninth consecutive World Cup appearance on Thursday at Seoul World Cup Stadium if they defeated 10-man Iran, but instead they settled for a scoreless draw. With the latest result, South Korea's World Cup fate will be now determined in Tashkent on Tuesday and they must win to secure the berth on their own.
"We'll return home with victory no matter what," Shin said to reporters at Incheon International Airport before taking a flight to Tashkent. "We're in a difficult situation, but we'll beef up our mental strength and will win."
 |
South Korea`s national football team head coach Shin Tae-yong (L) watches the 2018 FIFA World Cup Asian qualifying match between South Korea and Iran at Seoul World Cup Stadium in Seoul on Aug. 31, 2017. (Yonhap) |
South Korea are still in second place -- the last automatic qualification spot -- with 14 points in Group A in the final Asian qualifying round for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, but they are now chased by two nations -- Syria and Uzbekistan -- with one match remaining.
Both Syria and Uzbekistan have 12 points, but the former is in third place with better goal difference. Syria will take on already-qualified Iran in Tehran Tuesday.
Shin stressed that his side will display better performance than what they showed in front of 63,124 fans at Seoul World Cup Stadium.
"I'm not going to make any excuse about yesterday's match," he said. "We need to admit the things that we didn't do well, and we'll need to prepare hard for the match against Uzbekistan to win."
Shin, who took over the team last month after Uli Stielike's ouster, also defended team captain Kim Young-gwon, who was bombarded with angry comments by South Korean supporters after the defender said he had difficulty communicating with his teammates because of noise from fans at the stadium.
Kim later apologized to fans for his remark. Shin said there seems to be a misunderstanding of Kim.
"I told Kim Young-gwon to speak with teammates especially with his center back partner Kim Min-jae, who was having his national team debut," he said. "Kim made comments that were delivered in the wrong way. But what I can assure fans is that all the players are always thankful to them." (Yonhap)
