South Korea traveled to Tehran to face Iran in an Asian World Cup qualifying match Tuesday, with an eye on ending a winless drought that has last for more than four decades.
South Korea instead suffered a 1-0 loss at Azadi Stadium, dropping to two draws and five defeats in the Iranian capital. And they looked pretty bad doing so.
South Korea coach Uli Stielike also talked tough on the eve of the contest, saying the goal was to make new history.
The message clearly didn't get through to his players, who were thoroughly outplayed in virtually every aspect of the game.
South Korea didn't register a shot on goal in the first half, as Sardar Azmoun scored the lone Iran goal in the 25th.
For the match, South Korea took three shots, but none on the net. Iran got 13 shots off, with four of them headed toward the goal.
Iran kept attacking in the second half, instead of sitting back to protect their slim lead. The hosts were far more efficient and crisp with their passes, and Azmoun wreaked havoc on the Korean defense with his bursts of speed.
On his scoring play, Azmoun sped down the middle of the South Korean box and redirected a perfect feed by Ramin Razeian into the net. As Razeian took control of the ball on the right wing, center back Kwak Tae-hwi watched the play develop rather than covering the charging attacker.
By the time Kwak tried to recover and stop Azmoun, it was too late.
Ironically, Stielike selected Kwak, the oldest player on the current team at 35, to stabilize the defense and serve as the calming influence in the lockers. (Yonhap)