Korea falls short against Portugal in U-20 World Cup
Those in charge of Korean football have been preparing for the FIFA Under-20 World Cup for some time. There were dreams of glory on home soil mixed with the occasional nightmare of a first round exit all framed by a solid acceptable target of a place in the last eight.
Crashing out in the second round was not really one of those imagined scenarios.
That is what happened on Tuesday in Cheonan as Korea lost 3-1 to Portugal in a game that never really got going. Just a week ago, there was huge optimism as the young Taeguk Warriors defeated Argentina to follow a comfortable opening day victory over Guinea. Then came Friday’s 1-0 to England and now this.
This game was a tale between a team that was clinical and ruthless in the final third and one that just wasn’t. All knew that the Korean defense was something of a weak point and when the Portuguese had scored twice in the first half hour, there was little confidence that the host had the firepower to get back in the game.
It wasn’t that the Koreans were missing chances but they were not creating them. The team was adept at getting into promising attacking positions but not so clever at mak- ing at making the extra step.
By half-time, the host had one shot on goal. Portugal had four, two of which had been on target and both of those were goals.
The opening goal was a poor one to concede. After ten minutes, Lee You-hyeon lost Yuri Rubiero down the left-wing and the cross was converted by Bruno Xadas. Seventeen minutes later, Bruno Costa shot home from the edge of the area.
Korea had plenty of pressure and possession but was just not troubling the Portuguese goalkeeper. As the second half progressed, hopes faded and when Xadas danced through the red backline with 20 minutes remaining, it was all over.
Lee Sang-heon finally gave the home fans something to cheer about with nine minutes left, curling home a fine shot past the diving goalkeeper but it was too little too late and almost annoying that only when the cause was lost then there was some inspiration in attack.
There was the expected desperate assault of the Portuguese goal but nothing came of it.
Questions will be asked of coach Shin Tae-yong. He rested his stars Lee Seung-woo and Paik Seung-ho for the England game and also changed formation. That defeat meant a game against Portugal rather than Costa Rica and perhaps a halt to Korean momentum.
Another change of formation against Portugal may not have helped matters but in the end, Korea just did not have enough ideas in the final third of the field and did not have the requisite steel at the back to keep out talented attackers.
It was a disappointing end to a tournament that had promised so much. The tears were immediate but the post-mortem will last much longer.