South Korea managed to booked their place in the next round of the World Cup qualifiers after securing a 2-0 win over Kuwait recently.

Saudi Arabia – who are currently managed by former Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard, though, were not as lucky as South Korea, as they failed to progress into the next round. South Korea have become one of the major sides in the world right now.

It would have been a major story if they had crashed out of the World Cup at this preliminary stage. The World Cup qualifiers for the Asian teams have begun already. South Korea made it into the semifinals of the 2002 FIFA World Cup under the guidance of former Chelsea manager Hiddink.

They will be attempting to do that once again with the new team. Players like the Manchester United midfielder Park Ji sung are expected to be the main weapons for South Korea at this international stage.

However, it remains to be seen if Park Ji sung will be willing to play for the South Korean national team at the 2014 World Cup, as he has already said that he would like to focus on his club career. South Korea came into the match against Kuwait knowing that they could go out of the World Cup at this early stage with a defeat, but they performed admirably in the second half to secure their passage into the next round of qualifications.

The next round of the World Cup qualifiers will be taking place in June. South Korea will be part of the many teams that will take part in this round. This includes teams like China, Australia, Bahrain, and Iraq. Japan lost in the latest round of qualifiers, but their passage into the next round has already been assured.