(LEAD) S. Korea defeat Paraguay in men's football friendly
SEOUL, Oct. 14 (Yonhap) -- South Korea scored a goal apiece in each half to defeat Paraguay 2-0 in their men's football friendly match in Seoul on Tuesday, a nice bounceback effort after a lopsided loss to Brazil last week.
Eom Ji-sung scored in the 15th minute in his first international start, while second-half sub Oh Hyeon-gyu netted the second goal in the 75th minute before a sparse crowd of some 22,000 fans at Seoul World Cup Stadium.
On the heels of a 5-0 loss to Brazil last Friday, head coach Hong Myung-bo inserted eight new players into his starting lineup, including goalkeeper Kim Seung-gyu and center back Lee Han-beom.
A mix-up between Kim and Lee near the South Korean box almost cost South Korea a goal in the third minute, with Diego Gomez getting a piece of the loose ball before it bounced out of play.
South Korea opened the scoring thanks to a fortuitous bounce in the 15th minute. Lee Myung-jae sent a cross from left toward the goalmouth, and defender Junior Alonso's botched clearing attempt ended up at the feet of Eom, who made no mistake with his right-footed shot.
Kim Seung-gyu then made his presence felt in the late moments of the first half.
In the 43rd minute, Gustavo Gomez stripped Lee Han-beom of the ball and fed it to Ronaldo Martinez for a two-on-none rush. But Kim made a desperate diving stop on a low shot by Martinez to keep South Korea ahead.
Two minutes later, Kim denied Omar Alderete on a close-range header.
South Korea made wholesale changes after the restart, with Cho Yu-min replacing mistake-prone Lee Han-beom on the backline. Oh came on for captain Son Heung-min at forward, while Lee Kang-in replaced Lee Dong-gyeong as an attacking midfielder.
Oh airmailed a shot in the 58th minute on an open look, while Hwang In-beom missed the net high and wide left three minutes later.
South Korea caught a break in the 70th minute when Diego Gonzalez struck the left post with a free kick and Antonio Sanabria's header off the rebound sailed just above the target.
Oh then atoned for his earlier miss by getting behind the defense and walking in alone on goalkeeper Orlando Gill before dancing past him for an easy goal. It was Oh's sixth international goal and his fourth in his past six contests.
Paraguay kept knocking on the South Korean doors in late moments, but the home team hung on for a clean-sheet victory.
Eom, who scored the match's first goal, said he always wants to stay prepared because he knows his opportunities to play for the national team are few and far between.
"I don't get to play every time, so whenever I am given a chance like today, I want to be ready to make the most of it," he said. "I was nervous since this was my first start, and I had to stay sharp mentally, even more so than before."
Eom admitted that time seemed to freeze when the ball landed on his feet on the scoring play, and even in that brief moment, he was afraid he was going to blow the chance.
"Luckily, I was able to stay calm and finish off that chance," Eom said with a smile. "My goal is to make the national team again next month."
Oh, the other goal scorer, admitted it could be difficult to jump onto a moving train as a second-half sub, and he tried to heed coach Hong's message and stay efficient.
"It can be hard to catch up to the rhythm of the match when you come off the bench," he said. "The coach told me not to run all over the field and instead to be smart about my positioning. So I tried to do just that, and I ended up getting the goal."
jeeho@yna.co.kr
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