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| Son Heung-min from Tottenham Hotspur, second from left, captain of the South Korean national football team, congratulates Ulsan Hyundai defender Park Joo-ho, left, after the latter scored the team's first goal, four minutes into the first half, in a friendly match against Panama at the Cheonan Sports Complex in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province, Tuesday. Yonhap |
South Korea were held to a 2-2 draw by Panama in a friendly football match on Tuesday.
South Korea blew a two-goal lead at Cheonan Stadium in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province in the first national team meeting between South Korea and Panama.
South Korea maintained their unbeaten record under Paulo Bento since the Portuguese took the helm in August. Bento's side started with a 2-0 win over Costa Rica and had a 0-0 draw with Chile last month. They beat Uruguay 2-1 in a friendly match in Seoul on Friday.
The friendly against Panama was South Korea's last home match in this year. The Taeguk Warriors are scheduled to face Australia and Uzbekistan next month, and both matches will be played in Brisbane, Australia.
Making five changes from their previous lineup against Panama, South Korea started aggressively from the start.
South Korea earned their opening goal just four minutes after the kickoff. Left back Park Joo-ho pounced on a cross from Hwang Hee-chan for a 1-0 lead. It was Park's first international goal in 38 matches.
South Korea nearly doubled their lead in the 21st. Son Heung-min threaded Hwang Hee-chan a through ball, but the Hamburger SV forward's right-footed strike hit the post.
But it didn't take long for South Korea to get their second goal. Hwang In-beom struck a right-footed shot off a pass from Son just outside the box that left Panamanian goalkeeper Luis Mejia helpless.
Panama, one of the World Cup debutants at Russia 2018, didn't give up easily. Abdiel Arroyo headed down a Armando Cooper free kick in the 45th to cut the deficit to one.
Panama then leveled the score in the 49th after taking advantage of Nam Tae-hee's stray pass. Rolando Blackburn took the ball just outside the box and finished with his right foot.
Son tried to regain South Korea's lead with a free kick in the 59th, but his attempt was parried away by Mejia.
South Korea replaced Suk Hyun-jun for Hwang Ui-jo in the 65th in pursuit of a goal. Panama's Miguel Camargo surprised South Korean fans with his powerful middle-range effort in the 70th that went wide of the net.
Nam had an opportunity to make up for his previous mistake when he headed down the ball in the 77th after Moon Seon-min's strike took a deflection off a Panama defender. But his attempt went straight to Mejia.
In the 86th, Nam made a header off Ki's long pass after penetrating Panama's defense line. This time, his strike went inches wide of the net.
Panama fought back with Edgar Barcenas' powerful right-foot strike in the 90th, which was denied by Jo. Fidel Escobar could have delivered a shocker to the hosts in the second half stoppage time, but he failed to strike a cross from Barcenas. (Yonhap)
