Korea lose to Mexico in football friendly marred by COVID-19 outbreak

Mexico's striker Raul Jimenez, second from right, celebrates with his teammates after scoring his side's 1-1 equalizer against South Korea during the friendly match at the Stadion Wiener Neustadt in Wiener Neustadt, south of Vienna, Saturday. / Courtesy of KFA

South Korea dropped to Mexico 3-2 in a men's football friendly match played under the cloud of a coronavirus outbreak within the Korean team.

The 38th-ranked South Korea conceded three goals in a three-minute span against world No. 11 in the second half at Stadion Wiener Neustadt in Wiener Neustadt, south of Vienna, on Saturday (local time), frittering away a 1-0 lead built by forward Hwang Ui-jo in the 21st minute. Defender Kwon Kyung-won had the other South Korean goal in the 87th.

It was South Korea's first international match of the pandemic-plagued 2020, but the result seemed rather inconsequential, as South Korea played without six players and one team staffer who tested positive for COVID-19 just before the match.

The Korea Football Association (KFA) announced Saturday morning in Seoul, about 20 hours before the kickoff against Mexico, that four players and one staff member had tested positive for COVID-19.

Then following a retest of other players who had initially tested negative, two more players got positive results back.
The first four players were SC Freiburg midfielder Kwon Chang-hoon, FC Rubin Kazan midfielder Hwang In-beom, Busan IPark forward Lee Dong-jun and Ulsan Hyundai FC goalkeeper Jo Hyeon-woo.

The two additional players to test positive were Busan defender Kim Moon-hwan and Seongnam FC forward Na Sang-ho.

These six plus the unidentified staffer must be quarantined for 10 days in Austria and will only be released with a negative result in a retest, according to the KFA.

The KFA had discussions with the Mexican Football Federation and also the Austrian Football Association about the status of Saturday's match and decided to play it as scheduled based on FIFA regulations on match conditions during the pandemic.

The KFA explained in a press statement that as long as a team has 13 healthy players, including at least one goalkeeper, a match can still be played. South Korea had 19 healthy players, including two goalkeepers.

Mexico completely dominated South Korea in the opening moments. Raul Jimenez and Hirving Lozano each had good looks at the net early. In the 16th, South Korean goalkeeper Gu Sung-yun, starting in Jo Hyeon-woo's absence, came up big to keep the score tied, denying Jesus Manuel Corona from the penalty spot and kicking away the ensuing rebound.

South Korea then opened the scoring in the 20th minute in their very first scoring chance of the match. Captain Son Heung-min sprinted down the left flank and sent a perfect cross for Hwang, whose volley squeezed through Hugo Gonzalez in net.

Mexico nearly evened the score about four minutes later, as Lozano's volley bounced off the left goal post.

And in the 33rd, Gu made another spectacular save to foil Lozano's shot from point-blank range and helped South Korea take a 1-0 lead into the second half.

Mexico kept the pressure on South Korea and finally tied things up in the 67th on Jimenez's header. Two minutes later, substitute Uriel Antuna scored the go-ahead goal after capitalizing on a South Korean turnover.

Carlos Salcedo then volleyed home Mexico's third straight goal in the 69th minute.

Kwon had a Lee Kang-in corner kick go in off his body, but South Korea couldn't get any closer.

South Korea coach Paulo Bento said a momentary lapse of concentration in the second half led to a Mexico goal barrage that cost his team the game.

"We played a solid match. We were able to create a lot of scoring chances, but we also gave up a lot of chances on defense," Bento said. "We often lost the possession of the ball in our own end. We made life difficult for ourselves when we lost the ball in counterattack opportunities. Just when we were playing well, we lost our focus and gave up those three goals."

Meanwhile, South Korea's next match against Qatar, set for Tuesday, could also be in doubt. Earlier Saturday, the Austrian government announced plans for a three-week lockdown starting Tuesday to slow a recent spike in infections.

The two teams are scheduled to meet at BSFZ Arena Admiral Stadium in Maria Enzersdorf, near Vienna, at 2 p.m. Tuesday (10 p.m. Tuesday in Seoul). (Yonhap)

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