Son Heung-min leads the 1-0 victory with a header in the 35th minute… 2 consecutive goals in match A
Returning to the national team after 1 year and 6 months Lee Kang-in is benched for 2 consecutive games
Bentuho defeated Cameroon, the African powerhouse, with captain Heung-min Son (Tottenham), who scored the winning goal with his head in the last mock test held as a ‘complete’ before the start of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
The Korean national football team, led by coach Paulo Bento, won 1-0 with a header from Son Heung-min in the 35th minute in the friendly match against Cameroon at the Seoul World Cup Stadium on the 27th.
Kim Jin-soo (Jeonbuk) caught the ball that Hee-chan Hwang (Wolverhampton) pulled from the opponent’s left flank through the defenders and connected it with a left-footed shot from the left inside the penalty area, and Cameroon goalkeeper André Onana threw herself away.
However, the ball did not go far, and Son Heung-min, who was in front of the goal, jumped up from among the defense and threw it into his head.
It was the only goal scored by both teams that day.
As a result, the Korean national team, which drew 2-2 with Costa Rica at the Goyang Sports Complex on the 23rd, finished two A matches in September with 1 win and 1 draw.
These two friendly matches with Qatar World Cup finalists were the last test stage Bentuho had as an elite member of the European faction ahead of the Qatar World Cup starting in November.
The national team plans to play one more evaluation match at the same time as the expedition ceremony in Korea before leaving for Qatar in November, but at this time, the European league is in season, so they have no choice but to convene the domestic K-League.
For this reason, for Heung-Min Son, Hee-Chan Hwang, and Min-Jae Kim (Napoli), the match against Cameroon on this day was the last real battle they had at Bentu before the opening of the Qatar World Cup.
Son Heung-min, who led the draw with a free-kick equalizer against Costa Rica, returned to his team with the promise of the World Cup after scoring two consecutive goals in A Match and his 35th goal.
Cameroon is ranked 38th in the FIFA rankings, lower than Korea (28th).
South Korea continued their unbeaten run with 3 wins and 2 draws with this victory in the history of their opponents.
However, Cameroon visited Korea this time with the 1.5 team, which lacked some key elements such as striker Eric Maxim Chupomotting (Bayern Munich), midfielder Zambo Anguisa (Napoli), and defender Michael Ngaduungaju (Ghent).
Bento placed Heung-Min Son at the forefront and Hee-Chan Hwang, Woo-Young Jung (Freiburg) and Jae-Sung Lee (Mainz) in the second line.
In the midfield, Hwang In-beom (Olympiacos) and Son Jun-ho (Shandong Taishan), who was replaced in the Costa Rica match, worked as a link in the air force.
The team consisted of Jinsu Kim, Minjae Kim, Kyungwon Kwon (Gamba Osaka), and Moonhwan Kim (Jeonbuk).
Goalkeeper Gloves Kim Seung-gyu (Al-Shabab) continued to wear after the match against Costa Rica.
South Korea had a chance to score in the first five minutes.
As Heung-Min Son digs into the right side of the penalty area and Hee-Chan Hwang drops a header from the left side of the goal area, Woo-Young Jung rushes into the door and returns it to his head.
However, the goalkeeper was caught off guard.
The national team continued the offensive after that, but could hardly break through the Cameroon defense wall.
In the 33rd minute of the first half, Son Heung-min’s corner kick followed by Kim Jin-soo’s header shot was missed and went to zero.
But in the end, he broke the balance with one shot of Son Heung-min.
Korea took the lead, and in the 43rd minute of the first half, Brayan Mboemo’s shot was deflected by a defender and hit the crossbar, sweeping the chest.
Korea, which finished ahead of the first half, started the second half and replaced Lee Jae-seong and replaced Kwon Chang-hoon (Kim Cheon).
In the third minute of the second half, Munhwan Kim’s cross touched Wooyoung Jung’s head, but it went over the post.
In the 16th minute of the second half, coach Bento called Hwang Hee-chan and put Na Sang-ho (Seoul) in.
This time, there was no change in the size.
In the 25th minute of the second half, Cameroon tried to keep the ball from Mumi Ngamalu to a right-footed shot from the Korean defense, but was caught by Kim Seung-gyu.
After that, Korea took out Jung Woo-young and Son Jun-ho in the 27th minute of the second half, and added Hwang Ui-jo (Olympiacos) and Jung Woo-young (Al Sadd) to straighten the line.
However, Hwang Ui-jo was replaced by Baek Seung-ho (Jeonbuk) in the 37th minute of the second half due to an unexpected injury.
Hwang Ui-jo, who seemed to have suffered a shock to his knee by kicking his left ankle in the process of fighting for the ball, sat down on the ground.
A stretcher went in, but once Hwang Ui-jo walked out of the field.
In the 42nd minute of the second half, a free kick taken by Son Heung-min from the left corner of the opponent’s penalty area bounced off the net, causing 60,000 spectators to lament.
Still, the victory belonged to Korea.
Meanwhile, Kang-in Lee (Mallorca), who returned to the national team after 1 year and 6 months but did not get a chance to compete in Costa Rica, finished the game on the bench without stepping on the ground again that day.
/yunhap news