A team of K League All-Stars defeated Spanish giants Atletico Madrid 3-2 in their summer exhibition match in Seoul on Thursday.
The teams traded four goals in the second half on the muggy night at Seoul World Cup Stadium, with Gwangju FC's Lee Soon-min netting the winner during added time before nearly 59,000 fans.
This was the first of a trio of preseason matches involving major European clubs in South Korea. On Sunday, Atletico Madrid will face the European treble winners Manchester City in Seoul.
Next Thursday, Paris Saint-Germain, who recently signed popular South Korean midfielder Lee Kang-in, will play nine-time K League 1 champions Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors in the southeastern city of Busan.
The starting lineup for Team K League was voted in by fans, with head coach Hong Myung-bo and his staff selecting 11 reserves.
Atletico Madrid started regulars, such as Antoine Griezmann and Alvaro Morata. Their players wore shirts with names on their back written in Korean.
The two sides started peppering each other with shots early on, with Morata's goal in the seventh minute called back on an offside ruling.
Atletico Madrid opened the scoring a dozen minutes in, as Thomas Lemar pounced on a rebound after Griezmann's initial shot was turned aside by Daejeon Hana Citizen goalkeeper Lee Chang-geun.
The Spanish club didn't score again in the first half, though they hit the goal post three times and two more goals after Morata's were wiped out by an offside. They outshot Team K League 7-0 in the opening half, with the Korean side taking eight attempts but not putting anything on target.
Hong subbed in a handful of foreign players in the second half, and they provided some much-needed jolt for Team K League.
Anton Kryvotsyuk of Daejeon headed home a free kick taken by Daegu FC star Cesinha in the 50th minute, drawing the home team level.
Atletico Madrid, who brought 11 new players off the bench to begin the second half, reclaimed their lead in the 85th minute, with Carlos Martin volleying in a cross from Angel Correa.
The match seemed headed for an Atletico Madrid win, but then Gerso Fernandes earned a penalty for Team K League after being fouled by Santiago Mourino in the box.
Aleksandar Palocevic of FC Seoul then stepped up to convert the penalty and tie the score again.
With the clock ticking, Lee Soon-min played the hero, as he one-timed a setup from Fernandes with his right foot to put Team K League up for good.
Atletico Madrid head coach Diego Simeone said it felt good to get the team's first preseason match in the books.
"We created a lot of opportunities in the first half but not so much in the second half," the Argentine tactician said through an interpreter. "But both teams showed a lot of determination and played an entertaining match for supporters. It made for a great training opportunity for us."
Simeone said he held out some of the regulars because they weren't in good physical form and he wanted them to be ready for the first match of the season.
Simeone admitted he was focusing so hard on his own club that he didn't pay much attention to South Korean players on the opposite team. He did, however, single out Daejeon midfielder Bae Jun-ho as the one that left an impression.
Still just 19, Bae was one of South Korea's players in their run to the semifinals at the FIFA U-20 World Cup last month.
Hong, Simeone's counterpart, said he could sense the discrepancy in talent between the two sides, especially in the first half.
"I got the impression that they were a really well-organized team," Hong added. "I am happy that our K League players were able to beat this world-class team.
The coach gave kudos to his starting goalkeeper Lee Chang-geun for keeping Team K League in the game.
"We were only down by one at halftime, but we knew they would substitute some players," Hong said. "We had players in midseason form, and we felt we could rally. Things went our way at the end."
Source: Yonhap News Agency