Kuala Lumpur: Korea Republic edged Bolivia 1-0 while Uzbekistan and Japan fell to Uruguay and Colombia respectively in international friendly matches on Friday as the teams begin preparations for the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers.
Korea Republic 1-0 Bolivia
Ulsan: Korea Republic defeated Bolivia 1-0 with midfielder Lee Chung-yong coming off the bench to break the scoreless deadlock late in the second half.
Lee's 85th-minute header gave Korea Republic their first win over Bolivia in three meetings. The two previous matches ended in scoreless draws.
This was Korea Republic's first match since losing to Qatar in the quarter-finals of the AFC Asian Cup in January and also their first action at home in 2019.
Before a sellout crowd of 41,117 at Munsu Football Stadium in the southeastern city of Ulsan, 38th-ranked South Korea kept 60th-ranked Bolivia on their heels from the get-go.
Head coach Paulo Bento started Tottenham Hotspur attacker Son Heung-min at striker for the first time on his watch and it was all Korea Republic for the opening dozen or so minutes, with midfielder Ju Se-jong firing an early salvo off a free-kick in the fourth minute and a long-distance attempt seven minutes later.
In the 18th, wing-back Hong Chul set up forward Ji Dong-won for a header that bounced wide right of the net.
Son, who had been scoreless in seven matches under head coach Paulo Bento, had a couple of cracks at ending the personal drought late in the first half.
In the opening minute of the second half, Na Sang-ho had an open look but only got a piece of the ball with a volley at the goalmouth. Son put his head on the ensuing corner kick but missed the far side.
In the 53rd minute, Hwang In-beom found himself alone near the penalty spot, but his shot was deflected off the body of Castro and out of play.
After putting up virtually no attacks early on, Bolivia almost stunned the hosts at the hour mark. Catching defenders off-guard, substitute Leonardo Vaca cut in from the right wing and fired a low shot to force goalkeeper Kim Seung-gyu to make his first big save.
Bento summoned striker Hwang Ui-jo off the bench in the 62nd minute, and the Gamba Osaka forward quickly made his presence felt. Six minutes after entering the match, Hwang had a fast break chance, but his hard shot was turned aside by Cordano.
Another South Korean sub, Lee Seung-woo, tried to break the deadlock with some fine individual effort. After cutting toward the middle, Lee had a great look at the net but airmailed his shot.
Fittingly enough, it was substitute Lee Chung-yong that finally put Korea Republic on the board. Hong Chul sent a long cross from the left side, and Lee charged in from just outside the box and jumped over defender Marvin Bejarano to put a powerful header past Cordano.
Japan 0-1 Colombia
Yokohama: Radamel Falcao scored from the penalty spot as Colombia beat Japan 1-0 at the International Stadium in Yokohama.
Falcao, Colombia's record goalscorer, scored in the 64th minute to give new head coach Carlos Queiroz a winning start after having called time on his stint with the Islamic Republic of Iran.
The penalty which gave Falcao his 33rd goal for his country, came after Japan's Takehiro Tomiyasu was penalised for a handball in the 64th minute.
Japan had beaten Colombia the last time the two sides met - in the 2018 FIFA World Cup group stage. Japan play Bolivia on Tuesday while Colombia will face Korea Republic.
Uzbekistan 0-3 Uruguay
Beijing: Uruguay brushed off the absences of Edinson Cavani and Luis Suarez to ease past Uzbekistan 3-0 on Friday and reach the final of the China Cup in Nanning.
Oscar Tabarez's World Cup quarter-finalists will face Thailand in Monday's final after China PR's 1-0 loss to the Thais in Thursday's game.
Despite having Cavani out injured and Suarez also missing, Uruguay took less than five minutes to forge ahead as PSV Eindhoven forward Gaston Pereiro fired home a fine left-footed volley from Nicolas Lodeiro's pass.
The game was all but over as a contest midway through the first half, as in-form Girona striker Cristhian Stuani toe-poked a lob into the far corner.
Stuani wasted a great chance to add to his tally just before half-time when he slotted wide, but did complete a double eight minutes from time shortly after Pereiro had rattled the crossbar, getting in front of his marker to prod past Uzbek goalkeeper Sanjar Kuvvatov.
The 32-year-old former Middlesbrough player has now scored 19 goals for club and country this season.
Hector Cuper's Uzbekistan had plenty of possession but struggled to break down the Uruguayan defence, with Tabarez able to replace captain Diego Godin with Sebastian Coates 27 minutes from time.
Sources: AFP, Yonhap
Source: the-afc.com