Korea defeat Paraguay in men's football friendly

Son Heung-min of Korea dribbles the ball during the teams' friendly football match against Paraguay at Seoul World Cup Stadium in Seoul, Tuesday. Yonhap

Korea scored a goal apiece in each half to defeat Paraguay 2-0 in their men's football friendly match in Seoul on Tuesday, a nice bounceback effort after a lopsided loss to Brazil last week.

Eom Ji-sung scored in the 15th minute in his first international start, while second-half sub Oh Hyeon-gyu netted the second goal in the 75th minute before a sparse crowd of some 22,000 fans at Seoul World Cup Stadium.

On the heels of a 5-0 loss to Brazil last Friday, head coach Hong Myung-bo inserted eight new players into his starting lineup, including goalkeeper Kim Seung-gyu and center back Lee Han-beom.

A mix-up between Kim and Lee near the Korean box almost cost Korea a goal in the third minute, with Diego Gomez getting a piece of the loose ball before it bounced out of play.

Korea opened the scoring thanks to a fortuitous bounce in the 15th minute. Lee Myung-jae sent a cross from left toward the goalmouth, and defender Junior Alonso's botched clearing attempt ended up at the feet of Eom, who made no mistake with his right-footed shot.

Kim Seung-gyu then made his presence felt in the late moments of the first half.

In the 43rd minute, Gustavo Gomez stripped Lee Han-beom of the ball and fed it to Ronaldo Martinez for a two-on-none rush. But Kim made a desperate diving stop on a low shot by Martinez to keep Korea ahead.

Two minutes later, Kim denied Omar Alderete on a close-range header.

Korea made wholesale changes after the restart, with Cho Yu-min replacing mistake-prone Lee Han-beom on the backline. Oh came on for captain Son Heung-min at forward, while Lee Kang-in replaced Lee Dong-gyeong as an attacking midfielder.

Oh airmailed a shot in the 58th minute on an open look, while Hwang In-beom missed the net high and wide left three minutes later.

Korea caught a break in the 70th minute when Diego Gonzalez struck the left post with a free kick and Antonio Sanabria's header off the rebound sailed just above the target.

Oh then atoned for his earlier miss by getting behind the defense and walking in alone on goalkeeper Orlando Gill before dancing past him for an easy goal. It was Oh's sixth international goal and his fourth in his past six contests.

Paraguay kept knocking on the Korean doors in late moments, but the home team hung on for a clean-sheet victory.