By Pearse McLaughlin
El Salvador strike late on here at the Daejeon World Cup Stadium to snatch a 1-1 draw. This now leaves Jurgen Klinsmann winless in his opening 4 matches since taking charge of South Korea at the end of February.
Jurgen Klinsmann has gone with his tried and trusted 4-4-2 formation although it hasn’t brought him any joy recently as South Korea lost last time out to Peru 1-0. In terms of personnel changes, Jurgen Klinsmann has altered his side by making four changes as Kim Jin-Su, Seol Young-Woo, Park Yong-Woo, and Cho Gue-Sung come into replace Lee Ki-Jee, Ahn Hyun-Beom, Won Doo-Jae, and Oh Hyun-Gyu.
El Salvador boss, Hugo Perez has altered his formation slightly from the 4-4-2 formation and has gone with the 4-4-1-1 formation. Having been humiliated last time out 6-0 to Japan, Hugo Perez has made five changes to his side as Tomas Romero, Erick Cabalceta, Cristian Martinez, Leonardo Menjivar, and Harold Osorio.
First half chance of the game fell South Korea’s way on the 5th minute courtesy of Lee Jae-Sung’s effort which was palmed away by Tomas Romero. Lee Jae-Sung burst down the right flank and it looked as if he would fire it across to the unmarked Cho Gue-Sung but Tomas Romero took a step to his left which Lee Jae-Sung spotted and tried to catch him out at the near post.
A mere four minutes later, Cho Gue-Sung steals a march on Erick Cabalceta as he rose highest to meet Kim Jin-Su’s cross from the left-hand side but saw his header go agonisingly wide of the left-hand post. Should done a lot better there.
On the 20th minute Lee Kang-In shows terrific skill and footwork as he does a step over before chopping onto his weaker right foot and curling an effort just wide of the top right-hand corner. You can see what he was going for, unlucky. Terrific invention for the PSG bound Lee Kang-In.
Last action of the first half fell the way of South Korea and in particular Hwang In-Beom on the 49th minute as he tried his luck from distance on his swinger, but Tomas Romero gets down quickly and tips it around the post. Terrific save.
It remains goalless at the break in what has been a dominant performance from South Korea without creating any clear-cut opportunities. It has been a frustrating half for South Korea as they have failed to breakdown this stubborn backline of El Salvador. El Salvador will be extremely happy after what happened just a few days ago when they got humiliated 6-0 by Japan so to go in level at the break, Hugo Perez will be satisfied.
Breakthrough on the 49th minute as super sub, Hwang Ui-Jo makes an immediate impact off the bench as he fires in a shot low and hard into the bottom left-hand corner. Hwang Hee-Chan knocks the ball into Hwang Ui-Jo who pinned his defender on the left-hand side of the box brilliantly before cleverly rolling the ball onto his right foot and reversing his shot in at the near post. Emphatic finish. 1-0 South Korea.
South Korea should have doubled their lead on the 65th minute as Cho Gue-Sung somehow missed a free header inside the six-yard-box. Cho Gue-Sung rose highest inside the six-yard-box from a Lee Kang-In corner from the left-hand side but he timed his jump poorly and ballooned his header over the bar. Absolute sitter. Should have been 2-0.
A mere 4 minutes later and another chance goes a begging and this time it is wasted by Hwang Hee-Chan. The ball pinballed around inside the box before dropping fortuitously but he couldn’t convert his free header level with the penalty spot. His header looped onto the roof of the net. Poor execution and it proved to be his last touch of the game.
On the 70th minute the returning South Korean Captain and talisman in Son Heung-Min and Celtic’s Oh Hyun Gyu come onto replace Hwang Hee-Chan and Cho Gue-Sung who both struggled.
A shock equaliser from Alex Roldan 4 minutes from time came courtesy of a diving header following a free kick just over the halfway line on the right-hand side. It was an inch perfect cross by substitute Jairo Rodriguez into the path of Alex Roldan who brilliantly diving headers the ball into the bottom left-hand corner. 1-1. A superb piece of skill by the Seattle Sounders man. Game on.
This proved to be the last meaningful action of the game as South Korea are frustratingly held to a 1-1 draw on home soil. They had chances to kill off the game and with their one meaningful chance El Salvador made South Korea pay for their wastefulness.
Jurgen Klinsmann will now have to go and study how he can turn things around after a dreadful start to his South Korea job with 2 draws and 2 defeats from his first 4 matches.
Next up for South Korea is an international friendly away to Wales on Friday the 8th of September with a 3:45am kick-off time. Jurgen Klinsmann’s South Korean era has gotten off to a terrible start and will be hoping for a hell of a lot better when the Wales game rolls around.
Next up for El Salvador is a home tie against Costa Rica on Saturday the 1st of July when the CONCACAF Gold Cup starts. El Salvador will take some encouragement from the South Korea game and will quickly want to forget the Japan game in a hurry.
South Korea: Kim Seung-Gyu, Seol Young-Woo, Jung Seung-Hyeon, Park Ji-Soo, Kim Jin-Su (Park Kyu-Hyun 58’), Lee Kang-In, Hwang In-Beom, Park Yong-Woo (Hong Hyun-Seok 58’), Lee Jae-Sung (Hwang Ui-Jo 46’), Hwang Hee-Chan (Son Heung-Min 69’), Cho Gue-Sung (Oh Hyun-Gyu 69’). Subs not used: Lee Ki-Jee, Kim Ju-Sung, Won Doo-Jae, Song Bum-Keun, Son Joon-Ho, Na Sang-Ho, Moon Seon-Min, Cho Hyun-Woo.
El Salvador: Tomas Romero, Bryan Tamacas, Eriq Zavaleta, Erick Cabalceta, Alex Roldan, Kevin Reyes (Joshua Perez 75’), Cristian Martinez (Jairo Henriquez 84’), Narciso Orellana (Brayan Landaverde 70’), Leonardo Menjivar, Harold Osorio (Melvin Cartagena 78’), Brayan Hurtado (Mayer Gil 81’). Subs not used:Mario Gonzalez, Roberto Dominguez, Cristian Gil, William Canales, Walter Pineda, Oscar Pleitez.
Reporter: Pearse McLaughlin
Comments