Goals from Hwang Inbeom and Oh Hyeongyu saw South Korea pull off a comeback 2-1 win in their Group A opener against Czechia at Guadalajara Stadium on Friday morning.
Despite dominating proceedings in the first period, the Koreans were unable to find a way past Czechia goalkeeper Matej Kovar who was having a stellar game between the posts.
In the 14th minute, Kovar saved a fierce left-footed strike from Lee Kangin before he denied Son Heungmin at the resumption of the second half.
Czechia then grabbed the opener against the run of play in the 59th minute. Captain Ladislav Krejci rose highest to meet Vladimir Coufal’s long throw before his thunderous header found its way past a helpless Kim Seunggyu in the Korean goal to make it 1-0.
Eight minutes later however, Korea levelled matters with Hwang delivering a sublime ball after being teed up by Kangin for the 1-1 equaliser.
With 10 minutes remaining on the clock, Korea completed the turnaround through Hyeongyu who tucked in Hwang’s low ball in from the right as they grabbed all maximum points.
The result saw Korea move into second place behind co-hosts Mexico while the Czechians take up third spot.
In the earlier clash, El Tri saw off nine-men South Africa 2-0 at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City with Sphephelo Sithole and Themba Zwane seeing red.
Here’s how the updated log table looks like:
Bafana Bafana are up against Czechia next on Thursday, June 18, at Atlanta Stadium in Georgia.
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