South Korea rallied from a goal down to defeat Czechia 2-1 and make a winning start to their World Cup Group A campaign, much to the delight of their fans and the sizable local Mexican support they enjoyed in a festive Guadalajara.
South Korea joined Mexico on three points at the top of the group after the co-hosts beat nine-man South Africa 2-0 in the tournament opener in Mexico City.
Ladislav Krejci put Czechia ahead with a fine header as the European side dominated in the air, but Hwang In-beom equalised shortly afterwards and turned provider for the substitute Oh Hyeon-gyu’s winner.
“Before the match I gave two messages: not give up until the end and unite as one,” said the South Korea coach, Hong Byung-bo. “Whether on the pitch or not, we need to play as one team.“
Oh had come on for the misfiring Son Heung-min, who had five chances in the first half but endured an off-day in front of goal and is still two shy of the all-time scoring record for his country, failing to add to his 56 goals.
“Son is our best player and is also a very stable captain. We believe that Son did his best,” said Hong, though he added the team must “brush up” on finishing their chances.
It was a game of contrasting styles, the technical quality and passing range of the Koreans versus the brute strength and direct style of Czechia, playing their first World Cup match for 20 years. The first half was goalless but the game sprang to life in the second period and it was Czechia who took the lead after 59 minutes when Krejci rose highest to head home from a long throw by Vladimir Coufal.
South Korea were level eight minutes later and it was a fine goal too. Lee Kang-in’s excellent through ball created the shooting opportunity for Hwang In-beom and he cut inside before curling a right-footed shot low into the far corner. South Korea were undone by a set piece again when Tomas Soucek headed in a free-kick, but the flag was raised for offside. Oh struck the winner with 10 minutes remaining when he got on the end of Hwang’s low cross at the near post.
“We really made some mistakes but also made opportunities. Our opponent was very fast,” said Czechia’s 74-year-old head coach, Miroslav Koubek, who became the oldest manager in World Cup history, surpassing South Africa’s Hugo Broos in the opening game. “The better team won. We had to fight and we did. Now we need to move on. We need to be more attacking and creative in the last 30m. In attack we have room for improvement.”
There were noticeable areas of empty seats in the stadium, but the vast majority of the 44,985 in attendance were firmly behind South Korea. Hong’s side next face Mexico on 18 June and Czechia travel to the long distance to Atlanta to meet South Africa on the same day.
“We just have to live with it because that is what others planned for us,” Koubek said of Czechia’s schedule. “Our logistics team is good but it is not ideal we have to travel that much.”
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