The South dashes Iran’s cup hopes; The North qualifies for first time since 1966

South Korea ended its World Cup Qualifying matches all even, drawing 1-1 with Iran on June 17 in Seoul.

South Korea already qualified for the 2010 World Cup on June 6, but the draw dashed Iran’s hopes of making it to the tournament.

South Korea’s Ji-Sung Park, a rising star for Manchester United in the English Premier League, scored a late goal, evening the game with just nine minutes left to play in regulation.

The more interesting news this week, following the World Cup Qualifying finale, was the emergence of North Korea as the second and final team in Asia’s Group B standings to make it to next year’s World Cup in South Africa.

The team now joins South Korea, Japan and Australia as Asia’s four automatic qualifiers for 2010, which starts June 11 next year. South Africa and the Netherlands have also qualified for next year’s 32-team tournament.

The North, which played to a 0-0 draw with Saudi Arabia, qualified for the first time since its 1966 England World Cup appearance. The team upset Italy that year.

It was just 13 years following the end of the Korean War when both the North and the South played in the World Cup. This time around, tensions are also bound to be high.

South Korea beat North Korea in Seoul 1-0 on April 1, and Kim Jong-hun, North Korea’s head coach, then accused South Korea of poisoning his team’s food after some players got sick before the match.