In the second round of the U20 World Cup, the South Korean national team played a hard-fought draw against Latin American underdogs Honduras.
With a precious point after coming back from the brink of defeat, the team is one step closer to advancing to the round of 16.
Reporter Lee Jun-hee reports.
[Report].
Honduras, the Latin American double-header, proved tricky.
The team faced a crisis in the first 20 minutes when Honduras conceded a penalty kick.
A long pass that left space behind eventually led to a penalty kick, which Ochoa converted to give the hosts the lead.
But less than five minutes later, it looked like the opportunity would come again when Ochoa, the man responsible for the goal, was sent off for unsportsmanlike conduct.
Regrouping, the team attempted to mount a second-half comeback against a ten-man Honduras, only to concede a goal six minutes into the second half through Honduran Castillo.
With the deficit deepening, a late goal came from the toe of ace Kim Yong-hak.
In the 13th minute of the second half, Kim Yong-hak rattled the Honduran net with a powerful left-footed shot to keep the fight alive. 먹튀검증
With the momentum revitalized, the national team managed to equalize less than five minutes later.
A sharp corner kick from Lee Seung-won was met with a precise header by substitute Park Seung-ho to bring the game back to 1-1.
Down by two goals, the national team pushed forward in hopes of creating an upset, but were unable to pull off the upset as the opposing goalkeeper made saves.
[Kim Yong-hak, U20 National Football Team: “I’m not satisfied with the draw, I think we had a lot of goal chances and missed them, so I’m disappointed. We’ll try to win the last game so we can advance.”]
While the team is still in the hunt for a spot in the round of 16, they will be under pressure with goalkeeper Kim Jun-hong and defender Choi Seok-hyun unavailable for the third leg against The Gambia due to accumulated cautions and sending-offs.