Mexico city: South Korea could not have picked a worse time to submit such a lackluster performance at the FIFA World Cup. Needing only a draw against South Africa in their final Group A match in northeastern Mexico, South Korea instead absorbed a 1-0 loss on a goal by Thapelo Maseko.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the result left South Korea in third place in the group with three points. They opened the tournament by rallying to beat Czechia 2-1 on June 11, but they lost to Mexico 1-0 a week later. In the expanded, 48-team tournament, the eight best third-place teams out of 12 will progress to the knockouts. South Korea must now wait to see if they will advance after all, with Groups J, K, and L set to finish their play Saturday across the United States.
With Mexico punching their knockout ticket thanks to that victory, South Korea still had a chance to advance to the round of 32 on Wednesday, as long as they avoided losing to 60th-ranked South Africa. However, losing is exactly what 25th-ranked South Korea did, while displaying a shocking lack of urgency.
South Korea head coach Hong Myung-bo held longtime captain and talisman Son Heung-min out of the starting lineup. Son had started his 12 previous World Cup matches, dating back to his debut in 2014 when Hong was also in charge during his first tour of duty. Son failed to score in each of the first two matches at this year's tournament and Hong subbed him out for Oh Hyeon-gyu in the second half on both occasions. This time, Oh got the start ahead of Son as the striker, but Oh was barely visible in the goalless first half.
South Korea had a promising opening to the match, with center back Kim Min-jae, the stand-in skipper, putting his head on a Lee Kang-in cross just under two minutes into the match. But defender Aubrey Modiba was at the right place at the right time as he blocked the ball on the line. Lee had a scoring chance of his own in the eighth minute, but his left-footed shot from inside the box traveled just right of the target.
And then opportunities dried up quickly for South Korea, as South Africa gradually wrestled the control away from their opponents. It was one counterattack opportunity after another for the rest of the opening half, and a more clinical side than South Africa would have netted a couple of goals. South Korean goalkeeper Kim Seung-gyu also had to bail out his shaky defenders at the half-hour mark, as he denied Thalente Mbatha and Evidence Makgopa on successive shots.
Needing a win and a Mexico victory over Czechia to finish second in Group A, South Africa competed with far more determination, winning 50-50 balls and pouncing on sloppy turnovers in midfield or in the opposition zone. They held up their end of the bargain and got the result they needed from Mexico City, where the home team beat Czechia 3-0.
Even when trailing by a goal, South Korea curiously lacked spring in their step. There were long stretches when attacking players were simply waiting for playmaking midfielder Lee Kang-in to send crosses into the box, without making any off-the-ball movements to present themselves as targets. South Africa parked the bus with time winding down, but South Korea still kept their three center backs deep in their own zone, not attempting to avoid getting badly outnumbered in the box.
Son entered the match to start the second half, replacing Hwang Hee-chan on his more natural left wing, but even he couldn't offer a breakthrough for the static offense. Cho Gue-sung took over from Oh at the striker position, but Cho wasn't any better than the man he replaced.
Lee Kang-in said afterward he and his teammates simply weren't good enough. "We have to really look at ourselves in the mirror and try hard to get better," Lee said. "I want to apologize to our fans from the bottom of my heart. Hopefully, we will have some luck on our side over the next two, three days. If we do have another match to play, we must be prepared so that we won't have a repeat of a performance like this."
Kim Min-jae, who was subbed out in the 65th minute with a minor calf injury, also offered his apology, saying, "It's a shame that we ended up losing when we only needed a draw." "We may or may not play again, but we will have to put this disappointment behind us after today," Kim said. "We have to stay ready for the opportunity that may come. I am sure we all learned a great deal from this match. If we do get to play another match, then I think we will all be ready to give everything we have."
Defender Lee Gi-hyuk said Maseko's goal took what little wind South Korea had in their sails. "We tried to handle South Africa's counterattacks the best we could, but after giving up the goal, we started rushing our plays," Lee said. "If we do reach the round of 32, we have to take the field with more urgency. An opportunity like this doesn't come around often, and we will try to come together as one to prepare for that match."
Midfielder Jens Castrop, one of three subs that began the second half, blamed himself for the lone South African goal. "I was not able to close my legs in time where we conceded the goal. It was my mistake," said Castrop, the German native with a Korean mother. "Unfortunately, we lost 1-0. We will see where our next game is and then we concentrate 100 percent on the next game."
South Korea knocked on the South African door over and over again, sending crosses from left and right, only to see them cleared out by the dogged South African defense. The outcome ended up driving their fans insane. Hong insisted on the eve of the match that his players cannot afford to think about settling for a draw and must instead go for a win. But those players didn't even play well enough to get a draw.