The Korean squad, which pulled out a 2-1 win over the African debutants, will have matches with France and Switzerland, both considered soccer powerhouses in Europe.

France's scoreless draw with Switzerland, a match that followed the Korea-Togo game, made it further difficult to predict Korea's chances of making it to the second stage, experts said.

France and Switzerland are two points behind Korea after the Group G leader beat Togo.

If Korea beats France, the Asian country will advance to the Round of 16, regardless of its match results with Switzerland. In the case of a draw in the match with France, the following game between Switzerland and Togo is expected to decisively influence Korea's chances. The worst scenario for Korea is that it will be defeated both by France and Switzerland.

The Korean coaching staff, however, seem to be less concerned after the victory over Togo. "With these three points in the pocket we are in the tournament until the last (group) game against the Swiss," Korean coach Dick Advocaat's assistant Pim Verbeek said.

"If you have a draw, you have to beat France. And now we can lose to France and beat Switzerland and be in the next round. Or we can beat France and lose to Switzerland," he added.

"These three points are very good for the confidence of the players. And we learned a lot from this game (against Togo)," Verbeek said. "The players will be more sharp, more alert and more physical in the next game against France."

Sports experts in Seoul expect that Korea may achieve a better-than-expected performance in the coming match with France, saying that the European team boasting star players like Zidane and Henry has failed to show well its capabilities in scoring goals.

France's journey to Germany has been littered with a series of low scoring draws and judging by Tuesday's result, that trend shows no sign of changing.

French coach Raymond Domenech knows he's going to have to find a key to unlock France's attack from somewhere by Monday when they take on Korea or they'll be in serious trouble.

"The next match against the Koreans has now turned into a very important one where we have to score," he conceded.

"But it's not a question of a problem in attack, what I'm concerned about more is how many points we can get in our group.

"Our next game could be tight, we know the Koreans have the possibility to look for a draw and go for it in their last game. It's obvious we have to win it to be comfortable but even if we draw again it doesn't rule everything out.

"Each thing at a time, the aim is to qualify, to make progress. More than the question of attack it's points which count."

(shinyb@heraldm.com)

By Shin Yong-bae and news reports

2006.06.15