An unusual match in terms of flow as Korea controlled the first half, but didn’t really generate much of anything. A Kim Seunggyu blunder early in the second half gave Mexico the only goal of the game. Korea pressed for an equalizer and came close to Cho Guesung, but in the end it wasn’t enough.
Ratings
Starters
Kim Seunggyu (GK) – What to say? A massive blunder cost the match as he dropped the ball trying to claim it over his own defender (Lee Gihyuk I think it was). That being said he also made three very good saves. 5.5
Lee Hanbeom (DF) – Much busier in the second half than in the first. Was overall solid, but Mexico didn’t really threaten that often. 6.5
Kim Minjae (DF) – Solid in the center and made a couple nice runs from deep. Was probably a little fortunate the ref really kept the whistle in his pocket. 7.0
Lee Gihyuk (DF) – Busier in the first half, but then a quieter second half. Not a huge amount of note that I can remember. 6.5
Kim Moonhwan (RWB) – Far too conservative as he didn’t offer much going forward and seemed to always pass back to the defenders. 5.5
Hwang Inbeom (CM) – Was far from his influential best and got run over in midfield. 6.0
Paik Seungho (CM) – Similar to Hwang Inbeom, really just did not have any opportunity to show his better qualities. 6.0
Seol Youngwoo (LWB) – Had a couple nice runs early on, but faded badly as the game went on. 6.0
Lee Kangin (RW) – Mixed for me. As always, great on the ball, but lacked any real influence on the game. Had to come very deep to get involved which helped with possession, but really de-fanged the attack. 7.0
Lee Jaesung (LW) – I’m a big fan, but there are some games where it seems obvious he’s not the guy for it. This was one of them. Some nice runs, but largely lost. 6.0
Son Heungmin (CF) – Another quiet night, but I thought Son was better today than against Czechia. Was surprised he got the hook so early. 6.5
Substitutes
Oh Hyungyu – Missed one of the best chances (which was called back for offside – which looked wrong on replay) to draw level. Was quiet after that. 6.0
Hwang Heechan – Quiet after he came on with little real impact. 5.5
Eom Jisung – Put in a great cross that Cho Guesung almost put away for the equalizer. Was quite lively on the left. 6.5
Yang Hyunjun – Was a little less active than Eom on the left, but still had a positive impact in his running and directness. 6.0
Cho Guesung – Almost scored the equalizer and had another nice header well blocked. 6.5
Coach
Hong Myungbo – I’m still perplexed by the 3-4-3. It doesn’t really suit anyone on paper that he’s starting. My only thought is that it’s just a way to (in theory) shore up the defense by having three centerbacks there. Lee Jaesung and Lee Kangin aren’t really well suited to their wide roles, Seol Youngwoo and Kim Moonhwan (especially) are not good enough to be wingbacks at this level. Paik Seungho and Hwang Inbeom are quality but not able to exert influence against modern three-man midfields. Poor starting choices (team was obviously looking for a draw) and not a whole lot of ideas other than throw on attackers. 5.0
This game was hard to watch as I don’t think Mexico was that much better than Korea. I do agree that our attack was very lackluster.
To be honest, I think that yellow card given to Kangin really changed the tempo of the game.
This should have been a tie game but now we must win/tie South Africa.
We must not overlook South Africa.
Agreed, that would be the worst thing to do, overlooking that is. Mexico doesn’t have great width and not an enterprising midfield, they are quite a flawed team. However one thing they have massively improved on is their backline and defence, they held us at bay comfortably for the overwhelming portion of the game. 2 shot attempts on goal the whole game is not very good end product and I don’t believe Korea is anywhere good enough to have consistent, enterprising performances game in, game out. Can look good against Czechia who doesn’t want to play real football, but did very little against an organized and structured defence. It would be ludircous at this point if we lost to South Africa, who IMO have looked pretty bad at this world cup. Goalie made some good saves, but that was a clown show unprofessional error on the winning goal. Real amateur hour stuff.