South Korea in final round of WC Qualifiers

South Korea struggled past the Maldives 2-0 on Wednesday to secure a place in the final round of the 2006 Asian World Cup qualifiers.

Midfielder Kim Do-heon broke the deadlock in the 65th minute with a superb swerving shot from the edge of the box into the top left-hand corner of the net.

Lee Dong-gook, who had missed a string of chances, made it 2-0 for the home side against the spirited Indian Ocean islanders after stabbing in a cross 10 minutes from time.

South Korea, who have qualified for every World Cup since 1986, finished with 14 points from six matches and cannot now be caught by second-placed Lebanon at the top of Group Seven.

The eight group winners advance to next year's final round of World Cup qualifiers.

"The Maldives team had only one thing in mind -- standing on their six-yard line and kicking the ball away," said South Korea coach Jo Bonfrere.

"We didn't put enough pressure on them in the first half. In the second half we played with more speed... put more pressure on them and the result is we qualified for the next round."

South Korea were held to a humiliating 0-0 draw by the Maldives away in March -- a result that led to the resignation of coach Humberto Coelho.

The 2002 World Cup co-hosts, who reached the semi-finals, have continued to struggle under Bonfrere and endured a nervy first-half before a crowd of 62,000 in Seoul.

Maldives goalkeeper Imran Mohamed kept South Korea out repeatedly, tipping away a free kick from Spain-based midfielder Lee Chun-soo just before the break.

South Korea lost striker Ahn Jung-hwan early in the match with a serious ankle injury that will require surgery.

In the final round four Asian teams will automatically qualify for the World Cup in Germany with a fifth playing off against a team from the CONCACAF region.