South Korea’s Kim Eun-Joong defeated Ecuador to advance to the quarterfinals of the FIFA U-20 World Cup for the second straight tournament.
The South Korea U-20 soccer team, led by head coach Kim Eun-Joong, defeated Ecuador 3-2 in the U-20 World Cup Round of 16 at the Santiago del Estero Stadium in Santiago del Estero, Argentina, at 6 a.m. ET on Sunday. With the win, South Korea advances to the quarterfinals for the second straight tournament. Their next opponent is African powerhouse Nigeria.
South Korea opted for a 4-4-2 formation. After rotating their lineup in the last game, they started a number of their starters: Lee Young-joon, Kang Sang-yoon, Park Hyun-bin, Lee Seung-won, Bae Jun-ho, Kim Yong-hak, Choi Ye-hoon, Kim Ji-soo, Choi Seok-hyun, Park Chang-woo, and Kim Jun-hong.
South Korea opened the scoring in the 11th minute. On a counterattack in the 11th minute, Bae Joon-ho won the ball and sent a roving pass to Lee Young-joon, who outraced the defense and ran into the box. After receiving Bae’s pass with a chest trap, Lee rattled the opponent’s net with a sensational right-footed shot. With the momentum in their favor, South Korea threatened again in the 13th minute of the first half when Kim Yong-hak struck a bold mid-range shot.
Soon after, they added another goal. In the 19th minute, Bae Jun-ho, who turned the ball around with a deft touch in front of the box, had time to fool the opposing defense and took advantage of the goalkeeper’s diving maneuver with a powerful shot to split the goal. Despite being down a goal to Ecuador in the first half, South Korea went into the locker room with a 2-1 lead.
Early in the second half, South Korea increased the gap again. Two minutes into the second half, Choi Seok-hyun headed in a corner kick from Lee Seung-won to bring the score back to two. Korea conceded a late goal to Ecuador in the dying minutes of the game, but the defense was able to hold off the remaining Ecuadorian attacks to secure the win. The game ended with a 3-2 victory for South Korea. 토토사이트
Kim Jung-ho made history. South Korea reached the quarterfinals of the tournament for the second time in a row after finishing as runners-up in 2019. Kim is also the only Asian player in the tournament, keeping Asian pride alive.
Their next opponent is Nigeria. The Nigerians knocked out favorites Argentina in the round of 16 to reach the quarterfinals. They are expected to be an easier opponent than Argentina, but it’s still a tournament game, so you can’t let your guard down.