Lebanon’s hopes of reaching their first ever World Cup finals were all but ended on Tuesday as they slipped to a 3-0 defeat to South Korea.
Winger Kim Bo-Kyung broke his international duck with a classy brace for the Koreans who avenged their shock 2-1 2-1 reverse in Beirut last November, which cost former coach Cho Kwang-Rae his job.
The Cerezo Osaka left-footer grabbed his first two goals in 14 senior internationals, and Koo Ja-Cheol added a late third as the 2002 World Cup semi-finalists made it two wins in a row to start the last qualifying phase and edged closer to their eighth consecutive World Cup finals.
South Korea beat Qatar 4-1 in Doha last week, while Lebanon, who emerged from the third qualifying round in a group that featured the UAE in, fell to Qatar 1-0 and drew 1-1 against Uzbekistan before their long trip east.
With the visitors seemingly content to sit back, Korea struggled to break down Theo Bücker’s men until Kim opened the scoring with a thunderous strike on the half hour mark.
He added a second shortly after the interval with a neat finish over advancing Lebanon keeper Ziad El-Samad before FC Augsburg’s Koo then pounced on a defensive error to lash home the third goal on 89 minutes.
Korea currently top Group A with six points while Lebanon languish at the bottom having played one game more than Qatar and Ubzekistan and two more than second placed Iran.
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