It was a game that raised eyebrows in more ways than one.
The South Korea U-24 national soccer team, coached by Hwang Sun-hong, defeated China 3-1 in a friendly at Jinhua Stadium in Zhejiang, China, at 7 p.m. on Friday.
South Korea opted for a 4-4-2 formation. Chun Sung-hoon and Ko Young-joon were in charge of the front line, while Jung Ho-yeon and Kim Bong-soo were in the midfield, with Song Min-gyu and Yang Hyun-joon leading the flanking attacks. The defense consisted of Lee Tae-seok, Lee Jae-ik, Lee Han-beom, and Hwang Jae-won. Lee Kwang-yeon wore the goalkeeping gloves.
Hwang Sun-hong took the lead in the first half, but his finishing was lacking. After the first half ended 0-0, Hwang made a number of substitutions to shake things up in the back and front. Yang Hyun-joon, Song Min-kyu, Cheon Sung-hoon, and Ko Young-joon were taken off and Uhm Won-sang, Jung Woo-young, Cho Young-wook, and Park Jae-yong came on.
Hwang’s substitutions paid off immediately. In the fifth minute of the second half, Jung Woo-young threatened China with two shots on goal before Uhm Won-sang opened the scoring. In the sixth minute of the second half, Kim Bong-soo played an exquisite pass to Uhm Won-sang, who broke into space and rattled the net with a sensational shot over the goalkeeper’s height. With the momentum in their favor, Korea added a second goal. It was Uhm Won-sang again. In the ninth minute of the second half, Jung Ho-yeon saw Uhm Won-sang breaking into the box and sent her a pass, which she calmly finished.
The second goal came quickly. In the 15th minute of the second half, Chung Woo-young received a pass from Kim Bong-soo on the left flank and beat the defense on a solo run before drilling a shot into the top right corner of the goal.
It was a controversial goal for China. In the 18th minute of the second half, Su Haoyang rattled the Korean net with a header off a Tao Chiang Rong cross, but replays showed that the ball had crossed the line before Tao Chiang Rong sent it up. It could have been challenged via video assistant referee (VAR), but unfortunately, VAR was not activated for this match.스포츠토토
There was more to come. China’s roughing fouls. China harassed Korean players with rough fouls throughout the game. In the first half, Go Young-joon and Song Min-gyu were called for roughing fouls. Even though the ball was out of play, the Chinese players tried to force the tackle, causing Ko and Song to complain of pain. In the second half, Cho Young-wook, Park Jae-yong, and others were also hit by rough fouls and fell to the ground.
The referee’s decision was not without controversy. The main referee, assistant referee, and even the standby referee were all from China. Normally, third-country referees are assigned, but this seemed to be a compromise given that it was a friendly match. However, it left South Korea with a controversial goal and some dangerous moments that could have led to player injuries.