Korea neutralized by pressing defense of El Salvador in last World Cup tuneup
Korean football team players celebrate their first goal against El Salvador during the teams' freindly match at BYU South Field in Provo, Utah, Wednesday. Yonhap
Only days after enjoying a goal fest, Korea were mostly held in check by the pressing defense of underdogs El Salvador in their final friendly match before next week's FIFA World Cup.
Lee Dong-gyeong's free kick goal in the 57th minute was the difference in Korea's 1-0 victory Wednesday at BYU South Field in Provo, Utah. Aside from the set-piece goal, Korea didn't generate many dangerous looks — against a team sitting 75 spots lower in the FIFA rankings at No. 100. They didn't look like the same team that trounced Trinidad and Tobago 5-0 on Saturday, although, as coaches across many sports like to claim, opponents have a say in these things.
El Salvador pressed harder and presented more of a physical challenge than Trinidad and Tobago. They applied particularly hard pressure on Korea's two key midfielders, Hwang In-beom and Lee Jae-sung, whose vision and passing skills often create scoring chances.
Starting forward Cho Gue-sung, who had a size advantage over El Salvador defenders and thus would have been a threat to score headers, barely received any passes in the box. Korea's 72 percent ball possession number was misleading because they made more lateral and back passes than forward ones.
Korea's defenders hardly broke a sweat against Trinidad and Tobago but had to fend off some counter breaks by El Salvador in this one. Lee Gi-hyuk and Lee Han-beom got their second straight starts as defenders in the back-three format, with Kim Min-jae, considered the most accomplished center back on the team, getting the start between them.
But the three didn't look to be on the same page in their coverage at times, and they failed to connect on quick and smart passes necessary to relieve pressure.
Korea played with a little more jump in their step after Son Heung-min, Lee Kang-in and Oh Hyeon-gyu, likely starters at the World Cup, were brought in off the bench past the hour mark. Lee and Son combined to generate some looks, but Son was way off target with his attempts.
Korea also didn't look sharp in their set-piece chances, save for Lee's goal. Hwang In-beom fired a free kick right at goalkeeper Mario Gonzalez in the seventh minute, and Hwang Hee-chan airmailed his free kick attempt in the 29th minute.
Head coach Hong Myung-bo said afterward he didn't want to show his World Cup opponents too much in this friendly match, and his players will try to sharpen their set pieces once they travel to Mexico for the World Cup.