By Pearse McLaughlin
South Korea exact their revenge on Jordan secure a terrific result away from home as they defeat Jordan 2-0 thanks to a goal late in the first half from Lee Jae-Sung’s bullet header and substitute Oh Hyeon-Gyu adding a terrific second goal in the second half. This scoreline was reversed last time out between these two sides back in the 2023 at the Asian Cup when South Korea was eliminated in the semi-finals. The only dampener on what was a terrific result and performance was an Injury to Wolves star, Hwang Hee-Chan who hobbled off with an injury to his left ankle.
Jamal Sellami has picked his tried and trusted 3-4-2-1 formation that won 3-1 to Palestine last time out that won 3-1 to Palestine last time out. Sellami has made just the one change as in comes Mohannad Abu Taha to replace Yazan Al-Naimat.
Hong Myung-Bo is without his injured captain, Son Heung-Min as he is replaced in the squad by Hong Hyun-Seok who is on the bench today. Hong has stuck with his tried and trusted 4-2-3-1 formation that won away 3-1 to Oman last time out. In terms of personnel changes Hong Myung-Bo has made three changes as in comes Cho Yu-Min, Lee Jae-Sung and Joo Min-Kyu.
Huge blow for South Korea as Hwang Hee-Chan hobbles off injured on the 23rd minute after Mohammad Hasheesh landed on his left ankle and is replaced by Swansea City’s Eom Ji-Sung. A shame for Hwang Hee-Chan as he had been the bright spark early in the game for South Korea and let’s hope he’s not out for too long for both club and country.
Breakthrough for South Korea on the 38th minute courtesy of Lee Jae-Sung’s bullet header in what has been a very scrappy affair with barely any chances of note until now. It was terrific play down the right flank by Seol Young-Woo as he checked back onto his weaker left foot, floated a delicious ball into the six-yard-box where Lee Jae-Sung ghosted in at the near post and bulleted a terrific header into the top right hand corner. Brilliant team move finished off superbly. South Korea lead 1-0.
South Korea take a slender 1-0 lead in at the break courtesy of Lee Jae-Sung’s header but the major talking point will be losing Hwang Hee-Chan to injury after he was tackled robustly on his left ankle firstly by Abdallah Nasib and then Mohammad Hasheesh. It has been a tight, physical and cagey affair with very little clear cut chances of note. Jordan have defended in a low block and quite happy to give up possession to South Korea and hit them on the counterattack. So far so good for South Korea who will want to add to their slender lead and collect all three points in their pursuit for top spot in Group B. Big second half ahead and I’m sure it’ll open up a bit more as both teams go all out for the victory.
On the 68th minute, super sub Oh Hyeon-Gyu doubles South Korea’s lead over Jordan with a tidy finish at the near post and opens his account for his country in the process. Jordan gave away cheap possession in the middle of the park and were ruthlessly punished by South Korea as Lee Myung-Jae drove inside from the left with Oh Hyeon-Gyu overlapping him, faced up Abdallah Nasib on the corner of the box before checking inside and reversing the ball low and hard at the near post wrong footing Yazeed Yazeed Abulaila in the process as he made a step to his left anticipating it going the other side. South Korea now lead 2-0. Great impact off the bench from Oh Hyeon-Gyu as his goal puts South Korea well and truly in the driving seat to secure all three points and top spot in the group.
Yazeed Yazeed Abulaila produces a fine save from Bae Jun-Ho on the 80th minute as he stops the Stoke City midfielder extending South Korea’s two nil lead and adding a third goal. South Korea seem to be getting a lot of joy down the left hand side and was in a similar position of which Oh Hyeon-Gyu scored from just over 10 minutes prior to his powerful drive which was parried away to safety.
It’s all over here at the Amman International Stadium here in Jordan as South Korea win comfortably by two goals to nil as they take top spot in Group B for the time being with Iraq playing later on tonight who themselves can go joint top also with seven points from three matches when they take on Palestine in a couple of hours.
Next up for Jordan is a chance of redemption on Wednesday the 16th of October with another match at home to Oman at the Amman International Stadium, Amman, Jordan and the match is set for an 1am kick off time (KST). This match is Round 4 of their World Cup Qualification AFC 3rd Round Group B campaign where they will be looking to bounce back to winning ways as soon as possible after a bad night at the office.
Next up for South Korea on Tuesday the 15th of October is a match at home to Iraq at the Yongin Mireu Stadium, Yongin, South Korea and the match is set for an 8pm kick off time (KST). This match is Round 4 of their World Cup Qualification AFC 3rd Round Group B campaign and they will be looking to make it back to back wins.
Jordan: Yazeed Yazeed Abulaila, Abdallah Nasib, Yazan Abu Al-Arab, Husam Abu Dahab (Mo Abualnadi 77’), Ehsan Haddad (Yousef Abualjazar 85’), Nizar Al Rashdan (Ibrahim Sami 78’), Noor Al-Rawabdeh, Mohammad Hasheesh, Mahmoud Al Mardi (Ahmad Hamdouni 78’), Mohannad Abu Taha (Yazan Al-Naimat 46’), Ali Iyad Olwan. Subs not used: Abdullah Al Fakhouri, Noureddin Zaid Khaleel Bani Ateyah, Hijazi Maher, Saed Al-Rosan, Aref Al Haj, Rajaei Ayed, Ibrahim Sabra.
South Korea: Jo Hyeon-Woo, Seol Young-Woo, Cho Yu-Min, Kim Min-Jae, Lee Myung-Jae, Park Yong-Woo, Hwang In-Beom (Hong Hyun-Seok 90’), Lee Kang-In (Paik Seung-Ho 90’), Lee Jae-Sung, Hwang Hee-Chan (Eom Ji-Sung 23’ Bae Jun-Ho 51’), Joo Min-Kyu (Oh Hyeon-Gyu 51’). Subs not used: Kim Seung-Gyu, Kim Joon-Hong, Kim Ju-Sung, Hwang Moon-Gi, Jung Seung-Hyun, Lee Dong-Gyeong, Oh Se-Hun.
Reporter: Pearse McLaughlin
Comments