Korea qualifies for London Olympics men's football

Korea qualifies for London Olympics men's football

MUSCAT, Oman (Yonhap) -- Korea clinched a berth in men's football at the London Olympics here Wednesday, blanking home side Oman 3-0 in the penultimate regional qualification contest. At Al Seeb Sports Stadium in the Omanese capital, winger Nam Tae-hee scored seconds into the match, and his teammates added a pair of second-half goals to send Korea to its seventh straight Olympics. The victory gave Korea a four-point cushion over Oman at the top of Group A with one game left for both nations. Korea is tops with 11 points on three wins and two draws. Moments after the kick-off, Nam struck the loose ball from the penalty spot past goalkeeper Mahnad Al Zaabi, after Oman failed to clear Kim Min-woo's pass attempt. This was Nam's first start for the Olympic squad. He has scored four goals in seven games so far this season with Lekhwiya SC, his first in the Qatar Stars League, following a disappointing two-year stint with Valenciennes FC in Ligue 1, the first-division French league. In the 67th minute, Kim Hyun-sung doubled Korea's lead. The 186-centimeter forward slipped behind Oman's defense to head in Park Jong-woo's long free kick. Substitute Baek Sung-dong made it 3-0 four minutes later. Kim Bo-kyung stole an Oman clearing attempt and threaded a pass past two defenders for the charging Baek. The diving Al Zaabi got only a piece of the low shot. Most of the near-sellout crowd filed out of the stadium after the third Korean goal. Some remaining fans then started throwing water bottles and debris toward the pitch, delaying the match for nearly 10 minutes. With Korea in complete control on the offensive end, Oman didn't test the Korean defense much. Eid Mohammed launched a hard strike from the top of the box in the 24th, but keeper Lee Bum-young punched out Oman's best scoring chance. This was Korea's first road victory in this qualification round. It had earlier drawn Qatar and Saudi Arabia. Korea is set to host Qatar in the last qualification game next month. Only the top seeds from three groups in the final round punch their tickets to London. Three No. 2 teams will enter a playoff, with the winner going on to face Senegal for the final chance to qualify for this year's Olympics. Korea will be making its ninth Olympic appearance. It has never won a football medal and has gone past the first round only twice. Olympic football teams are for players under 23 years old. But participants are each allowed to pick up to three players over that limit, known as "wild cards."