S. Korea looking for 1st point vs. South Africa

Players of the South Korean men's under-20 football team train in Katowice, Poland, on May 26, 2019, in preparation for the FIFA U-20 World Cup. (Yonhap)

South Korea will chase their first point of the FIFA U-20 World Cup when they face South Africa this week.

Their second match of Group F will kick off at Tychy Stadium in Tychy at 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, or 3:30 a.m. Wednesday (Seoul time).

Both teams are reeling from losses last Saturday. South Korea fell to Portugal 1-0, as their second-half surge on the offensive end came up short. South Africa played the final 25 or so minutes with 10 men, as Argentina came out on top 5-2.

With Portugal and Argentina favored to occupy the top two spots of Group F, South Korea and South Africa will duke it out for third place and a chance to squeeze into the knockouts.

The top two seeds from each of the six groups, plus the four best third-place teams, will reach the round of 16. Given the history of third seeds getting through since the expansion of the tournament to 24 nations in 1997, teams will most likely need at least four points to qualify.

Against Portugal, South Korea pushed the defense with confidence for the opening five or so minutes. But they overcommitted on the offensive end early on and were burned by a fast-break goal from the speedy Portuguese forward Trincao.

After failing to register a shot on target in the first half, South Korea came to life on offense over the final 30 minutes, though their dominance in ball possession didn't lead to the equalizer.

South Korea will be the underdogs against Argentina in the group finale Friday, meaning the contest against South Africa is virtually a must-win game for the young Taeguk Warriors.

Head coach Chung Jung-yong said after Saturday's loss that he liked what he saw from his players in the second half, and he expected them to continue to get better for the next match.

He will have to come up with a new scheme to further unlock the considerable potential of Lee Kang-in, the 18-year-old midfielder for Valencia CF and South Korea's most gifted player in this tournament.

The playmaker was the focal point of the attack for South Korea against Portugal, someone who tried to initiate the offense and who took most of the spot kicks. But the book was long out on Lee, as Portugal sent double and triple teams at him in midfield. It created outnumbering situations in favor of South Korean forwards, but they failed to move effectively away from the ball to capitalize on extra open space.

Coach Chung acknowledged Saturday that Lee had to handle too many defensive responsibilities in the loss, and that he'll try to unshackle Lee so that he can concentrate more on offense.

After Sunday's practice, Chung kept things close to the vest when it comes to his tactics against South Africa.

Following his own team's match Saturday, Chung and his staff drove about 50 minutes to Tychy to watch South Africa against Argentina.

"Watching a team on video is obviously different than doing so in person," Chung said, when asked if he'd decided to change his formation or lineup against South Africa after attending their match. "I am thinking of different options. I'll have to go over our own match again."

He did hint that South Korea will try to exploit South Africa's shaky defense.

"On the back end, their players had some strong individual skills, but I noticed some holes in their organization," Chung said. "On offense, they displayed good speed and power."

(Yonhap)