In a duel that caught fire in the second half, South Korea came up behind on the scoreboard, but beat the Czech Republic 2-1 in the early hours of this Friday (12) at the Akron stadium, in Guadalajara, Mexico, for the two teams’ debut in Group A of the World Cup.
The South Koreans dominated the game, with more technique than the top European players. These achieved their best shots in aerial plays.
When the ball went low, South Korean goalkeeper Kim Seung-Gyu saved his team with at least two great saves.
With the score, Korea is tied with Mexico on points in the group, with 3, leaving South Africa and the Czech Republic at zero.
In the first half, Korea’s big name was captain Son Heung-min, who moved a lot to find space between the strong rival defenders.
His main chance came in the 37th minute, when his team stole the ball in the middle and passed it to him. The number 7 then took off at speed, passed two markers and hit the ball, placed, from the edge of the area. The ball passed close to the post.
Midfielder Lee Kang-In, with a shot from outside the box in the 12th minute, also had a good opportunity to open the scoring, but goalkeeper Kovár palmed it away for a corner, saving his team.
The Czech Republic even tried a few times to reach the rival’s goal, but always failed with the last pass and ended the first half without requiring a single save from goalkeeper Kim.
In the second half, both teams went on the attack and heated up the duel.
Just 4 minutes into the second half, goalkeeper Kovár avoided the goal with two consecutive shots. After another good exchange of passes from South Korea, Hwang In-Beom finished from the edge of the area and the goalkeeper saved it. Afterwards, Lee Jae-Sung took advantage of the rebound, but Kovár made another save.
At 13 minutes, the Czechs opened the scoring. Coufal took a throw-in with great force and the ball reached the edge of the small area. Defender Krejcí arrived at speed and jumped between the defenders to hit a strong header, with no chance of defense for Kim.
Despite the goal, the South Koreans maintained their tactic of exchanging passes to find the ideal moment to finish. And that’s how they equalized in the 21st minute, with a great goal from midfielder Hwang In-Beom.
He received a pass inside the rival area, made a sharp cut on defender Hranác, leaving him on the ground, and played with his right foot over Kovár. The ball went slowly and entered the right corner.
The Czech Republic scored again in the 32nd minute, when Soucek headed home a cross from a free kick from the midfielder, but he was offside.
Two minutes later, Korea turned the score around with a quick attacking play. Oh Hyeon-gyu, who had replaced star player Son Heung-min, took a first-time touch to Hwang In-beom’s right-wing cross.
From then on, the big name of the game was the South Korean goalkeeper. At 36 minutes, the Czechs almost equalized. Coufal hit the sideline again into the area. The attack deflected for Hlozek to appear free at the second post. He shot hard, low, and Kim made a great save.
In the 47th minute, the Czech Republic started from the right, to the end line, and crossed low to the back. Midfielder Sadilek arrived head-on and shot first time, forcing Kim to perform another miracle to save Korea.
The South Koreans reach their 11th consecutive participation in World Cups. In the next round of the group, on Monday (18), Mexico and South Korea face each other in Guadalajara, while the Czech Republic and South Africa duel in Atlanta.
