Soccer-Relentless Bento demands more from World Cup-bound South Korea

By Michael Church

(Reuters) - Coach Paulo Bento has no plans to ease South Korea through the remainder of Asia's World Cup preliminaries next month after guiding the nation to a place in the finals in Qatar.

The Koreans guaranteed a top-two finish in Group A with a 2-0 win over Syria in Dubai on Tuesday, claiming an automatic finals berth and stretching the country's run of consecutive World Cup appearances to 10.

Bento's team are second in the standings, two points behind an Iran side who have also secured their World Cup spot, and the Portuguese has no intention of allowing his players to relax.

"The most important thing right now is to keep doing well and trying to develop our process and way of playing," Bento said after goals from Kim Jin-su and Kwon Chang-hoon saw off the Syrians.

"We have two more games to finish this qualifying phase. We have the opportunity to take six more points.

"We have the opportunity to reach first place in the group. I think that is a goal that is good for us to try to achieve."

Bento's team have failed to win only two of their eight qualifiers, drawing with Iraq in the opening game of the third round before being held to a 1-1 draw by Iran in October.

The Koreans will host the Iranians on March 24 before playing their final qualifier against the United Arab Emirates five days later, and Bento wants to give his team's supporters something to celebrate.

"We hope that in the game against Iran, we can have fans in the stadium and have their support," he said.

"The best way to say thanks to them is to make a good performance and reach a good result."

(Reporting by Michael Church in Hong Kong, Editing by Ed Osmond)