▲ In this Reuters photo, South Korea head coach Paulo Bento watches his team in action against the United Arab Emirates during the teams' Group A match in the final Asian qualifying round for the 2022 FIFA World Cup at Al Maktoum Stadium in Dubai on March 29, 2022. (Yonhap)
▲ In this EPA photo, South Korea head coach Paulo Bento reacts to a play against the United Arab Emirates during Group A match in the final Asian qualifying round for the 2022 FIFA World Cup at Al Maktoum Stadium in Dubai on March 29, 2022. (Yonhap)
▲ In this Reuters photo, South Korea head coach Paulo Bento (R) shakes hands with his forward Hwang Hee-chan after South Korea's 2-0 loss to the United Arab Emirates in the teams' Group A match in the final Asian qualifying round for the 2022 FIFA World Cup at Al Maktoum Stadium in Dubai on March 29, 2022. (Yonhap)
▲ In this AFP photo, Son Heung-min of South Korea (L) is grabbed by Majed Hassan of the United Arab Emirates during the teams' Group A match in the final Asian qualifying round for the 2022 FIFA World Cup at Al Maktoum Stadium in Dubai on March 29, 2022. (Yonhap)

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S. Korea coach blasts team for 'worst performance' after World Cup qualifier loss to UAE

By Yoo Jee-ho

SEOUL, March 30 (Yonhap) -- Following South Korea's lethargic, 1-0 loss to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in their final World Cup qualifying match on Tuesday in Dubai, head coach Paulo Bento did not mince words.

"What we did today was the worst performance we've had," Bento said at a press conference at Al Maktoum Stadium, moments after South Korea suffered their only loss of the final Asian World Cup qualifying round. "What we did today, we should be disappointed with more than the result, with the performance and with the attitude."

Those were particularly harsh words for Bento, especially considering that South Korea had already booked a spot in the World Cup in early February. Bento had never been this critical of his team since taking over the reins in August 2018, and the Portuguese tactician admitted as much, saying, "It's the first time I talk about this."

South Korea had been undefeated in their first nine matches of this qualifying phase. Their most recent victory, a 2-0 win over Iran in Seoul on Thursday, might also have been also their most buoyant one. It was their first win against Iran since January 2011, and the victory sent them to the top of Group A past Iran.

Bento was baffled that his players failed to keep up that momentum just five days later. South Korea had an almost 80-20 edge in ball possession and took 16 corners to the UAE's none, and still came up empty-handed. Iran ended up winning the group after beating Lebanon 2-0 earlier Tuesday.

"After winning the previous game and getting the first position, and losing the first position in the next game, competing and playing as we did... For me, it's not normal," Bento said. "It's a signal. If we don't understand this, we're going to have more problems in the future, for sure."

The draw for the World Cup is Friday in the host nation, Qatar. The big tournament is just about eight months away. Bento said there isn't that much time left for South Korea to improve certain things.

"(Improvements) should come from ourselves," he said. "The way we compete, the way we prepare ourselves for each moment of the competition... Today, we didn't do it. For me, it's not normal and acceptable to make something like we did today."

Bento said he had warned his players that the UAE would "do everything they can in order to reach their goal." And that objective was to grab the third seed in Group A and advance to the playoff match against No. 3 seed from Group B, Australia.

The coach felt his players did not compete with the same urgency.

"Of course, we should have had the same behavior, the same ambition and the same desire that our opponents had, as we showed many, many times before," Bento said. "Today was not that day. And we paid a high price because of that. In football, (you have to) compete in every single moment, every single game. I think that was a fair victory for our opponent. I think we didn't deserve another result than what we had, and that was the defeat."

Bento did not just pile on the players.

"What we must do is to assume our responsibility. First of all, myself is responsible for this," he said. "At the same time, I think that all of us should think about what we did today and what we want to do in the future, if we want to compete like today or like five days ago (against Iran)."

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