No debate as VAR gives Sweden win from spot

SWEDEN had video officials to thank for their first tournamentopening victory in 60 years. Captain Andreas Granqvist coolly dispatched the spot-kick after referee Joel Aguilar needed a replay to make the correct call. Despite being close to the incident, the official from El Salvador initially waved away Swedish appeals after South Korea substitute Kim Min-woo felled midfielder Viktor Claesson just after the hour. While the historic spot-kick awarded to France against Australia on Saturday had seen VAR come under fire, there were no such protestations here. ‘The decision was a penalty. Of course it’s disappointing but we need to accept the result,’ said Korean talisman Son Heung-min, a frustrated figure for much of this desperately dour contest. ‘The VAR thing, I think it’s sometimes better, sometimes worse. For them it was better, for us it was not good today.’ The scoreline, if not the performance, puts Sweden joint top of Group F with Mexico and staring at the unexpected prospect of knocking holders Germany out with victory in Sochi on Saturday. To do so they will need a vast improvement. Boss Janne Andersson said: ‘I’m sure we’ll be more effective in the upcoming games.’

SWEDEN (4-4-2): Olsen 6; Lustig 6, GRANQVIST 8, Jansson 6, Augustinsson 6; Claesson 7, Ekdal 6 (Hiljemark 71), Larsson 7 (Svensson 81), Forsberg 5; Toivonen 5 (Thelin 76), Berg 5. Scorer: Granqvist 65. Booked: Claesson. Manager: Janne Andersson 6. SOUTH KOREA (4-3-3): Cho 8; Lee Yong 6, Kim Young-gwon 7, Jang 6, Park 6 (Kim Win-moo 29, 5); Koo 5 (Lee Seung-woo 73), Ki 6, Lee Jae-sung 6; Hwang 5, Kim Shin-wook 5 (Jung 66), Son 7. Booked: Lee Seung-Woo, Hwang. Manager: Shin 5. Referee: Joel Aguilar (El Salvador) 6. Attendance: 42,300.