By Yoo Jee-ho AL RAYYAN, Qatar, Dec. 1 (Yonhap) -- South Korea head coach Paulo Bento, suspended for the team's final group stage match of the FIFA World Cup, said Thursday he doesn't believe his absence on the bench will have any bearing on the team's performance, such is the level of his confidence in his lieutenants. South Korea will close out Group H play against Portugal at 6 p.m. Friday at Education City Stadium in Al Rayyan, west of Doha. Bento will not be on the sidelines, after getting a red card in the aftermath of South Korea's loss to Ghana on Monday. Bento had a heated exchange with referee Anthony Taylor, who blew the final whistle moments after South Korea had won a corner. At a prematch presser for the Portugal match, Bento said his "competent staff" will more than make up for his absence. "I am confident the staff will do whatever is needed and if they need to make decisions, I am confident they will be able to do so. They will be independent," Bento sa

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By Byun Duk-kun WASHINGTON, Dec. 2 (Yonhap) -- The United States is working with its allies to prepare for all contingencies originating from North Korea, a state department spokesperson said Friday, highlighting the possibility of a North Korean nuclear test in the foreseeable future. Ned Price also stressed that a nuclear test by North Korea would constitute a "grave escalatory action" following its unprecedented number of ballistic missile tests. "We have spoken to this in recent months in some detail. We have said for some weeks now that we've seen indications that the DPRK has completed preparations for a possible seventh nuclear test," the department spokesperson said when asked about a potential North Korean nuclear test in a telephonic press briefing. DPRK stands for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the North's official name. North Korea conducted its sixth and last nuclear test in September 2017. A seventh nuclear test, Price said, "would constitute

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(ATTN: ADDS details throughout) By Yoo Jee-ho AL RAYYAN, Qatar, Dec. 2 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's super-sub midfielder Lee Kang-in earned his first FIFA World Cup starting assignment on Friday in a must-win match against Portugal. Center back Kim Min-jae, hobbled by a right calf injury, will begin the Group H match on the bench at Education City Stadium in Al Rayyan, west of Doha. Lee had been South Korea's most dangerous offensive weapon coming off the bench in two previous matches, a goalless draw with Uruguay and a 3-2 loss to Ghana. With South Korea needing a win over Portugal, along with help from the other Group H match of the day between Uruguay and Ghana, Lee will now try to spark the offense from the opening kickoff. South Korea, though, will be missing their best defender in Kim, who hurt himself against Uruguay and played through the injury against Ghana. He has skipped recent training sessions to get treatments on his injured leg but did not recover in time to sta

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By Yoo Jee-ho AL RAYYAN, Qatar, Dec. 2 (Yonhap) -- South Korean captain Son Heung-min thanked the country's supporters for giving the team enough energy to get past Portugal and into the round of 16 at the FIFA World Cup in Qatar on Friday. Son assisted on Hwang Hee-chan's stoppage-time winner in South Korea's 2-1 victory over Portugal at Education City Stadium in Al Rayyan, west of Doha. South Korea finished in second place in Group H with four points and advanced to the knockouts for the third time in their World Cup history, after 2002 and 2010. South Korea gave up the match's first goal in just the fifth minute, before Kim Young-gwon netted the equalizer in the 27th minute and Hwang landed the knockout punch in the dying moments. "As expected, this was a tough match, and even more so because we gave up the early goal," Son said in a televised interview afterward. "But the players never gave up and made sacrifices for the team. And our fans here and back home gave us

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(ATTN: ADDS more info throughout, photos) By Yoo Jee-ho AL RAYYAN, Qatar, Dec. 2 (Yonhap) -- South Korea are going to the knockout stage of a FIFA World Cup for the third time in history, after stunning Portugal 2-1 on Friday with a late goal by second-half substitute Hwang Hee-chan. Hwang's go-ahead goal gave South Korea four points, good enough for second place in Group H behind Portugal, who won the group with six points. In addition to beating Portugal, South Korea also needed Uruguay to beat Ghana in the other Group H match of Friday and go to a tiebreak. Uruguay helped South Korea by defeating Ghana 2-0, with South Korea winning the tiebreak in the second category, goals scored, at 4-2. South Korea previously played in the knockouts in 2002 and 2010. The win was deja vu from the 2002 World Cup, when South Korea beat Portugal 1-0 in the final group match to advance to the knockouts for the first time. Portugal opened the scoring just five minutes into Friday's

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(ATTN: ADDS details, comments, photos) By Yoo Jee-ho AL RAYYAN, Qatar, Dec. 2 (Yonhap) -- South Korea are going to the knockout stage of the FIFA World Cup for the third time in history, after stunning Portugal 2-1 on Friday with a late goal by second-half substitute Hwang Hee-chan. Hwang's go-ahead goal gave South Korea four points, good enough for second place in Group H behind Portugal, who won the group with six points. In addition to beating Portugal, South Korea also needed Uruguay to beat Ghana in the other Group H match of Friday and go to a tiebreak. Uruguay helped South Korea by defeating Ghana 2-0, with South Korea winning the tiebreak in the second category, goals scored, at 4-2. South Korea previously played in the knockouts in 2002 and 2010. The win was deja vu from the 2002 World Cup, when South Korea beat Portugal 1-0 in the final group match to advance to the knockouts for the first time. As the runners-up in Group, South Korea will face the winner

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By Yoo Jee-ho AL RAYYAN, Qatar, Dec. 3 (Yonhap) -- South Korea will be up against Brazil in their first knockout match of the FIFA World Cup in Qatar next week. South Korea, as the runners-up of Group H, will be heavy underdogs against Brazil, world No. 1 and Group G winners, in their round of 16 match at 10 p.m. Monday at Stadium 974. It will be 4 a.m. Tuesday in South Korea. South Korea grabbed the second seed in their group with four points by beating Portugal 2-1 on Friday and then getting some help from the two other teams in the group, Uruguay and Ghana. Uruguay defeated Ghana 2-0 to also reach four points, but finished behind South Korea after losing the tiebreaker in goals scored, 4-2. Brazil, after clinching their knockout spot early with two straight wins, had a goalless draw with Cameroon in the Friday nightcap to finish the group phase with seven points. Switzerland finished second in Group G and will take on Portugal. South Korean players had to wait

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(ATTN: UPDATES with remarks from NSC communications coordinator John Kirby in last 7 paras) By Byun Duk-kun WASHINGTON, Dec. 2 (Yonhap) -- The United States and its allies will use all means possible to limit North Korea from further advancing its weapons programs, White House National Security Council (NSC) spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in a released statement Friday. The statement came one day after the U.S., South Korea and Japan imposed unilateral sanctions on North Korean officials and entities for supporting the North's illegal weapons development programs. "This synchronized action demonstrates the increased strength of the trilateral relationship between the United States, Japan, and the ROK," Watson said in her statement, referring to South Korea by its official name, the Republic of Korea. The U.S. designated three senior members of North Korea's ruling Workers' Party on Thursday. Seoul imposed sanctions on eight North Korean individuals and seven entities, wh

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(ATTN: CHANGES headline, lede; UPDATES throughout with more details) By Yoo Jee-ho AL RAYYAN, Qatar, Dec. 2 (Yonhap) -- South Korea are going to the knockout stage of a FIFA World Cup for the third time in history, after stunning Portugal 2-1 on Friday with a late goal by second-half substitute Hwang Hee-chan. Hwang's go-ahead goal gave South Korea four points, good enough for second place in Group H behind Portugal, who won the group with six points. In addition to beating Portugal, South Korea also needed Uruguay to beat Ghana in the other Group H match of Friday and go to a tiebreak. Uruguay helped South Korea by defeating Ghana 2-0, with South Korea winning the tiebreak in the second category, goals scored, at 4-2. South Korea previously played in the knockouts in 2002 and 2010. jeeho@yna.co.kr

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By Yoo Jee-ho AL RAYYAN, Qatar, Dec. 2 (Yonhap) -- Even after shocking Portugal 2-1 in their final Group H match at the FIFA World Cup here Friday, South Korean players had to wait for their real celebrations. South Korea held up their end of the bargain with the thrilling win, made possible with second-half sub Hwang Hee-chan's goal during stoppage time at Education City Stadium in Al Rayyan, west of Doha. But in order to reach the knockout stage, the Taegeuk Warriors also needed a Uruguay win over Ghana in the other Group H match taking place simultaneously at Al Janoub Stadium in Al Wakrah, south of the Qatari capital. The South Korea match ended a few minutes earlier than the Uruguay-Ghana match with Uruguay leading 2-0. If the score held up, South Korea would advance on a goals scored tiebreaker, 4-2. However, If Uruguay were to score another goal, then they would have advanced by beating South Korea 1-0 in a goal difference tiebreaker. South Korean players and st

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