‘Great Wall Warriors’ Hwang Seon-Hong Ho wins 3-1 first leg against China… substitute Eom Won-sang ‘multi-goal + injury’
Hwang Sun-hong’s mercenary skills shone through as the South Korean U-24 soccer team won its first match against China.
South Korea won a 3-1 friendly against China’s U-24 national team on Friday at Jinhua Stadium in Zhejiang Province, China, thanks to multiple goals from Uhm Won-sang and a wedge from Jung Woo-young.
Hwang and his team are now preparing for the Asian Games in Hangzhou in September. Before the crucial tournament, the team played two friendlies against China on Sept. 15 and Sept. 19 as part of their final preparations.
South Korea struggled against China’s tough defense in the first half, but substitutes scored in the second half to secure a comfortable victory.
South Korea lined up in a 4-4-2, with Lee Kwang-yeon in goal and Lee Tae-seok, Lee Jae-ik, Lee Han-beom, and Hwang Jae-won forming the defense. Song Min-gyu, Jung Ho-yeon, Kim Bong-soo, and Yang Hyun-joon played in the midfield, while Ko Young-joon and Chun Sung-hoon were the front two.
China lined up in a 4-2-3-1. Han Jiaqi was in goal, while Gao Tianyi, Zhu Tianjie, Zhang Shengrong, and He Yufeng formed the defense. Huang Jiahui and Abdullahan Halik guarded the third line, while Fang Hao, Wen Jiabao, and Ba Dun played in the second line. Up front, Tan Long was in goal for South Korea.
In their exhibition match at home, South Korea struggled to find easy attacking routes against a tough Chinese defense that included three wildcards in the 24+ category. They were unable to create any decisive chances.
In the 13th minute, Lee Tae-seok tripped over Halik’s leg and went down in pain, causing tension on the Korean bench, but he managed to get up and continue playing. In the 31st minute, winger Fang Hao was warned by the referee for a rough tackle on Song Min-gyu.
South Korea ended the first half scoreless at 0-0. At the start of the second half, Hwang made four changes, dropping Yang Hyun-joon, Song Min-gyu, Cheon Sung-hoon and Ko Young-joon and bringing on Uhm Won-sang, Cho Young-wook, Park Jae-yong and Jung Woo-young.
Hwang’s mercenary skills paid off immediately. Five minutes into the second half, Kim Bong-soo’s long pass from the back was met by substitute Uhm Won-sang, who lightly touched it with her right foot and sent it over the opposing goalkeeper to rattle the Chinese net.
Uhm Won-sang didn’t stop there. Just three minutes after the opening goal, Uhm Won-sang made it 2-0 when she collected a through ball from Jung Ho-yeon in the box and slotted it home.
Substituted by Coach Hwang, Uhm Won-sang did not disappoint as she scored a multi-goal performance.
With the momentum on their side, Korea scored their third goal soon after. Once again, two substitutes scored the third goal as Jung Woo-young of Freiburg, Germany, came on in the second half.
In the 14th minute of the second half, Jung found himself in front of a defender just outside the box and wasted no time in firing a right-footed mid-range shot past him. Zheng’s shot was precisely placed in the right corner of the goal, out of the reach of goalkeeper Han Jiachi.
In the 16th minute of the second half, China should have pulled one back with a header from a cross. However, there was controversy as the replay showed that the ball went out of bounds just before the cross, but the referee awarded the goal to China.
The Korean players immediately protested the decision, but as there was no video assistant referee (VAR) in this friendly, Korea had no choice but to accept the call. 메이저사이트
After conceding the goal, the South Koreans had to deal with an injury to Uhm Won-sang. In the 20th minute of the second half, Uhm Won-sang collided with a Chinese player while saving a ball off the touchline and landed on her knee.
Korean medics rushed in to check on him, but it was determined that he could no longer play, so Hwang pulled him off and brought on Choi Jun.
The controversial call and Uhm Won-sang’s injury dampened the spirits a bit, but Korea held off China for the remainder of the game to secure a 3-1 victory.
South Korea scheduled a two-game series against China in preparation for the Hangzhou Asian Games. After winning the first match, South Korea will play the second match at the same venue on March 19.