“The victory was very difficult as all the conditions before the match affected us,” said the Koreans’ Portuguese coach. “The weather conditions were difficult before arriving to Beirut and it was the same since our arrival and during the match.
 
“The most important thing is that we managed to get the three points that we came here to get. Despite the victory, we are not yet in the World Cup but we are so close of qualifying.”

The Koreans went into the game without key forwards Son Heung-min and Hwang Hee-chan but still did enough at a blustery Saida Municipal Stadium to see off a determined home side to take all three points.
 
Although qualification for the FIFA World Cup has still to be confirmed, Bento has already trained one eye on the Finals in Qatar in November.
 
“Our aim when we play in the World Cup is to go far and create history although it will not be any easy task,” said Bento, who led his native Portugal at the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.

Lebanon coach Ivan Hasek said he was proud of his team despite seeing his side suffer a narrow loss for the third game in a row following losses against the United Arab Emirates and the Islamic Republic of Iran.
 
The Cedars remain on five points in fourth place in the group and still retain the possibility of finishing third in Group A and advancing into the playoffs.

“Korea Republic are a strong team and I nominated them to reach the World Cup since the start of the qualifiers as they have a good performance and they know how to change the play,” said the Czech coach
 
“We had a good performance and I’m proud with our players. We gave the chance to several players and this will benefit us in the future.
 
“It was a difficult match for sure but with our performance today, we showed that we have great future and we still have a chance to finish third in the group.”