“In-beom Hwang picked up a yellow card for a foul, a moment that signalled early ill-discipline from Korea's midfield as they looked to impose themselves.”
“Dong-gyeong Lee broke the deadlock to make it 1-0, finally converting Korea's sustained pressure into a goal after nearly an hour of one-sided play.”
Pivotal“El Salvador head coach Hernán Gómez was booked for dissent on the touchline just two minutes after conceding, reflecting his side's frustration at the manner of the goal.”
“A wave of eight substitutions — including the introductions of Son and Kang-in Lee for Korea — transformed the complexion of the match but ultimately failed to unlock a second goal.”
Korea Republic
El Salvador
Outstanding performance
Korea Republic•AttackerKorea Republic controlled this friendly from first whistle to last, finishing with 71 percent possession, 14 shots to El Salvador's three, and a pass accuracy of 91 percent that illustrated just how thoroughly Klinsmann's side suffocated their Central American opponents. Yet for all that dominance, it took until the 57th minute for Dong-gyeong Lee to find the breakthrough, a solitary goal that flattered El Salvador given the scale of Korea's territorial supremacy. El Salvador's goalkeeper was kept busy — five saves in total — and the back line spent much of the evening under siege, registering four offsides as they scrambled to stay compact. The mass substitutions around the hour mark, including the introductions of Heung-min Son and Kang-in Lee, briefly promised a more emphatic scoreline, but Korea's finishing let them down and El Salvador held on to limit the damage to a single-goal defeat ahead of their own World Cup preparations.
How entertaining was this match?
South Korea host El Salvador in a pre-World Cup friendly at Seoul World Cup Stadium, looking to build on a stunning 5-0 win over Trinidad and Tobago. With the tournament just weeks away, Hong Myung-bo will use this clash to fine-tune his squad against a lively El Salvador side ranked 100th in the world.
