South Korea lost 4-0 to Ivory Coast in a friendly match at Stadium MK in Milton Keynes, England, on Saturday. The team hit the woodwork three times but failed to score, while suffering multiple defensive breakdowns. The defeat comes with the FIFA World Cup less than three months away.
South Korea, ranked 22nd in the world, fell 4-0 to No. 35 Ivory Coast in an international friendly at Stadium MK in Milton Keynes, northwest of London, on Saturday local time. Four different Ivory Coast players scored: Evann Guessand, Simon Adingra, Martial Godo, and Wilfried Singo.
South Korea hit the right post three times—Oh Hyeon-gyu in the 20th minute, Seol Young-woo in the 42nd, and Lee Kang-in in the 76th—but created few other chances. Coach Hong Myung-bo's back-three formation struggled against Ivory Coast's speedy attackers. The first goal came when Godo outran center back Cho Yu-min to assist Guessand, who slipped the ball past Kim Min-jae. Adingra spun and shot for the second in added time of the first half. Godo pounced on a rebound after Jo Hyeon-woo's save on Guessand from a corner for the third, and Singo finished a late counter off Amad Diallo.
Captain Son Heung-min, who started on the bench due to illness and entered in the 58th minute, could not spark a comeback. Hong told reporters postmatch, "I think we have to get better as a whole." He added, "We ran some experiments with different lineup combinations... We can learn a lot from this match."
On defenders, Hong said, "We have to help them keep growing." Son, in a televised interview, apologized to fans and stated, "We have to be humble going into every match... Use this loss as an opportunity to take the next step."
South Korea faces No. 25 Austria in Vienna on Tuesday. The result underscores the need for improvement ahead of the FIFA World Cup in June.
