Coates, Vecino power Uruguay to win over South Korea

Hwang In-beom netted the lone South Korean goal in the friendly, a rematch of November's World Cup group game, at Seoul World Cup Stadium. The teams played a goalless draw in Qatar, and with caretaker manager Marcelo Broli at the helm, Uruguay came out on top this time thanks to goals by the two oldest players in an otherwise youthful starting lineup.

"I am very happy with the victory," Broli said afterwards. "The players executed the strategies really well." Coates, 32, put the South Americans on the board in the 10th minute, powering home a header from Federico Valverde's corner past goalkeeper Jo Hyeon-woo. The home side found little space to manoeuvre early on as Uruguay pushed their way upfield.

South Korea found some life later in the first half, with Son Heung-min firing a free kick high and wide in the 37th minute. Lee Ki-je rolled a shot just wide of the right post a minute later. Hwang netted the equaliser six minutes after the restart when Lee Kang-in's cross deflected off a Uruguay defender and landed at the feet of Lee Ki-je. 

Uruguay reclaimed the lead in the 63rd minute when Vecino, 31, slotted home the rebound after Jo made a diving stop from Joaquin Piquerez's free kick. South Korea thought they had drawn level once again in the 84th minute with a thunderous strike by Oh Hyeon-gyu from just inside the box, only to have it disallowed on an offside call from the video review.

"We had problems today in the first 20 minutes. We couldn't find the rhythm right away," Klinsmann said. But, nearing the end, "we were clearly the far better team," he added. South Korea squandered a two-goal lead in Friday's match against Colombia in Ulsan and had to settle for a 2-2 draw.

 

March 28, 2023