SAO PAULO: Jan Vertonghen scored a late winner as 10-man Belgium edged past South Korea 1-0 here at the Arena Corinthians on Thursday to end the group stage with a perfect record of three wins out of three.

The Belgians lost Steven Defour to a straight red card a minute before half-time and although they were not at their fluent best once again, they still had too much for the Koreans who exited the tournament without a win.

“We knew all games were going to be tough,” Belgium coach Marc Wilmots said in a news conference after the match.

“But even with 10 men, we still pushed forward. These guys are really hungry.

“We fulfilled our mission with nine points. It’s never happened before and what’s important for me is whether we can get into the quarter-finals. I don’t care about anything else.”

Wilmots’ men booked a second-round clash against the US but the big story of Group ‘H’, though, was Algeria’s qualification to the round-of -16 for the first time in their history.

Algeria fought back valiantly to secure a 1-1 draw against Russia in Curitiba which saw them finish second to Belgium in the section and set a knockout round date with Germany.

A Belgian fan (L) celebrates her team’s victory against South Korea in Sao Paulo while South Korean supporters react at a public viewing venue in Seoul.—AFP/AP

“I am very proud, we played a heroic match and we deserved to qualify. We’re very, very proud,” said Algerian coach Vahid Halilhodzic after the match.

“We’ve progressed so much over the past three years and this is a real gift for us. We’ve received support from all over the Arabic world — and that has been wonderful.

“The people here in Brazil also appreciate our sincerity and enthusiasm and I’m proud of that. But more than that, I’m proud of the way the team has played.”

Islam Slimani scored the goal which helped Halilhodzic’s side through after Alexander Kokorin had given Russia an early lead at the Arena Baixada.

Sliman’s goal, however, came controversially with laser light being targeted into the face of Russian goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev.

He leapt highest to an Abdelmoumeme Djabou free-kick and connected with a header on the hour mark to cancel out Kokorin’s goal on five minutes, when the Russian striker turned in Oleg Shatov’s cross with his head.

Russia started the day level on one point with Korea and a victory for them would’ve seen them progress if Belgium were to beat Korea.

“Our goalkeeper was affected by a laser 10 seconds before the goal. He was blinded by a laser, there are photos, films of it,” Russia coach Fabio Capello told SkySport Italia.

“I’m not looking for excuses. I accept defeats. “I don’t like to talk about the referee, but today every decision went against Russia. I don’t understand why all the officials are against us.”

The draw was enough to take Algeria, who started the day on three points, through.

South Korean goalkeeper Kim Seung-Gyu tries to make a save during the match against Belgium.—AFP

The only permutation that would’ve stopped them from progressing was if Korea pulled off something sensational at the Arena Corinthians against Belgium.But the Koreans never looked likely to salvage anything more than a draw against a side ranked as one of the dark horses to win the World Cup and without one player for the entirety of the second-half.

“We played quite well,” South Korean coach Hong Myung-Bo said.

“But I think after the sending off, we got concentrated too much in the midfield.“All my players gave their utmost but I think our exit is because of my shortcomings, my failings as a coach.”

Belgium had the ball in the back of the net as early as the 23rd minute but Kevin Mirallas was adjudged to have been an offside position.

A minute later Dries Mertens had both space an time in the six-yard box but he skied his effort well wide.

On the half-hour mark, Ki Sueng-Yeng forced a smart save by Belgium goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, who had an outstanding match and moments later Moussa Dembele’s goal-line intervention prevented the Koreans from taking the lead.

In the closing stages of the first-half, Defour saw red for planting his studs into the shin of Kim Shin-wook.The Koreans came closest to breaking the deadlock was on the hour mark when Son Heung-Min rattled the crossbar.

But 12 minutes later Vertonghen sealed Belgium’s victory when he tapped in a rebound after goalkeeper Kim Sueng-Gyu had parried a shot by Divock Origi into his path.

Published in Dawn, June 28th, 2014