South Korea's luck runs out at World Cup as Brazil expose gulf in class

DOHA : Any dreams of South Korea replicating their historic World Cup run from 20 years ago came crashing down with a last 16 humiliation at the hands of five-times champions Brazil as the Asian side's luck finally ran out in Qatar.

Korea had qualified for the knockout stages by the skin of their teeth after beating Portugal at the death, watching the end of the other group game on mobile phones with frayed nerves as they waited for Ghana to deny Uruguay a decisive goal.

Much to their relief, Uruguay were denied second place in the group as Ghana held on. The Koreans cried tears of joy when qualification was sealed, but three days later their fans would weep in despair.

Korea's reward for reaching the last 16 for the first time since 2010 was a showdown with pre-tournament favourites Brazil, who not so much waltzed into the quarter-finals but oozed class as they literally danced the samba in a 4-1 win at Stadium 974.

"I believe our participation at the World Cup has ended in a very fair manner," Korea's Portuguese coach Paulo Bento said, also confirming he was leaving his role after their exit.

The result is one the grinning Brazilians will remember for years to come and one the shattered Koreans will want to forget in a hurry as they failed to reach the heights of their 2002 predecessors who beat European giants Italy and Spain.

As co-hosts in 2002, Korea reached the semi-finals under Dutch coach Guus Hiddink to go down in football folklore as the first team from outside Europe and the Americas to reach the last four.

But a realistic Bento had tempered expectations even before the first game, not wanting to burden his side with the pressure of having to qualify for the knockouts after three group stage exits in the years that