Son Heung-min and Cho Kyu-sung scored one goal each

Dec 1, 2025

Junhwi Lee

biz.chosun.com

At an exhibition match held at Daejeon World Cup Stadium on Sunday, Korea ranked 22nd in FIFA rankings and 76th in Bolivia, but the difference in performance was not as significant as the difference in rankings. Against Bolivia's dense defense, Korea had little chance to find a way out of attack, and the goal came only in the second half.

The attack flow was not smooth in the first half. Pass connections were frequently cut off as Hwang In-beom was left out of the midfield, and Son Heung-min was isolated from the front line several times. Bolivia held up South Korea's attack well by lowering its line and focusing on defense, even though a few key players were absent.

The outcome was decided in the second half. After getting a free kick in the 12th minute of the second half, Son Heung-min stepped in as the kicker, and a shot from the left side was sucked into the corner of the goal. It was such a neat shot that even some even called it "Son Heung-min." With the goal, Son scored his 54th A-match goal, bringing him one step closer to Cha Bum-keun's 58 goals.

In the 31st minute of the second half, Cho Kyu-sung, who had not been able to play for a long time due to knee surgery and aftereffects, joined the team as a substitute. In the 43rd minute of the second half, Cho held onto a cross from the right side while struggling with two players, before pushing it with his left foot when he fell to score a goal. The return goal was all the more significant because it was the first time in 20 months that he had scored a comeback goal for the national team.

The victory puts South Korea one step closer to maintaining its advantageous port No. 2 in the draw for the World Cup finals. However, having struggled more than expected against Bolivia, the organization of defense and operation of the midfield remain tasks to be supplemented.

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