Ghana's group opponents Korea beat Egypt in a friendly

Korea rounded off their June friendly with a big 4-1 win over Egypt at Seoul World Cup Stadium in Mapo District, western Seoul on Tuesday.

After struggling to a 2-2 draw against Paraguay last week, the Taeguk Warriors returned to Seoul with something to prove as they took on a seriously weakened Egypt playing without talismanic captain Mohamed Salah.

For the first 10 minutes of the game, it looked like Korea might not be able to rise to the occasion with the visitors quickly seizing control during the early going.

Those early jitters quickly wore off and the Taeguk Warriors began to pull together and start working as a team. That shift very quickly paid off and it was only a few minutes later that Bordeaux’s Hwang Ui-jo headed in the first goal of the game.

Hwang’s header came at the end of a perfectly executed play that started back at the halfway line with captain Son Heung-min. Son picked out Kim Jin-su with a long cross that set the Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors winger up near the left corner. Kim took a single touch to control the ball before firing it across the box where Hwang dived in to head it home.

That first goal was a masterclass in what Korea can do when the cogs are oiled and working correctly. It was a perfectly executed one-two-three play with just four touches to get the ball from the halfway line to the back of the net. The precision required to pull it off is exactly where the Taeguk Warriors normally fall apart, but clearly not every time.

Just five minutes after that first goal Korea were back again for No. 2, a set piece that probably wasn’t how it had been drawn up but worked none the less.

It started with Son again, a right field corner fired into the box and on to the head of Hwang. But rather than firing the ball toward the goal, Hwang ended up sending the ball skimming across the box where veteran Ulsan Hyundai defender Kim Young-gwon dived down to head it in on the bounce.

Things slowed down following that flurry of chances as Egypt strengthened their defense and managed to snuff out any Korean attacks.

Seizing the momentum, the next few opportunities went to the visitors, with Mostafa Mohamed eventually getting Egypt on the scoreboard in the 37th minute.

The goal proved contentious on the pitch, with Korea calling for a VAR check due to a possible handball. While the video replay did show ball-to-hand contact, the latest FIFA rules do specify that an accidental handball leading up to a goal isn’t an offence. Both the referee and the VAR clearly felt the contact, which didn’t appear to have affected the play, was not cause to disallow the goal.

The momentum died down for the rest half, with the score at 2-1 when the whistle blew.

That momentum stayed dead for quite some time once the second half resumed for Korea. Despite a few changes — Kim Jin-kyu on for Ko Seung-beom in the 52nd minute and Um Won-sang on for Jeong Woo-yeong in the 69th minute — the Taeguk Warriors appeared to be completely shut down for the first 30 minutes of the second half.

It wasn’t until the very last few minutes of the game that Korea suddenly came alive. Head coach Paulo Bento made one more substitution in the 78th minute — Cho Gue-sung on for Hwang and Kim Dong-hyun on for Paik Seung-ho — and the fresh legs immediately paid off.

Cho Gue-sung scores Korea's third goal in a game against Egypt at Seoul World Cup Stadium in Mapo District, western Seoul. [YONHAP]

Two substitutes gave Korea goal number three in the 84th minute, when Um fed the ball through to Cho on the edge of the box. The Gimcheon Sangmu midfielder turned on the spot before firing a perfectly placed shot through the defense and past the keeper’s hands into the top right corner of the goal to take the score to 3-1.

Six minutes later Korea came back for one more as Kim Jin-su picked up his second assist of the night with another perfectly placed cross to Kwon Chang-hoon. Diving in front of the defense, Kwon, also a Gimcheon midfielder, headed the ball low into the right side of the goal, skimming just inside the post to take the score to 4-1.

Kwon Chang-hoon, center, heads in Korea's fourth goal in a game against Egypt at Seoul World Cup Stadium in Mapo District, western Seoul on Tuesday. [YONHAP]

The big 4-1 win caps off a four-game friendly series with Korea winning two games, drawing one and losing one.

Korea started the month with a 5-1 loss to Brazil at Seoul World Cup Stadium, before beating Chile 2-0 at Daejeon World Cup Stadium and then drawing 2-2 with Paraguay at Suwon World Cup Stadium.

Although the 5-1 loss was a tough pill to swallow, it came at the hands of the No. 1 team in the world and there was little the Taeguk Warriors could do stop that onslaught. Over the following three games there have been indications that the Korean defense and midfield are starting to come together as the attacks begin to look more fluid and less stop-start.

Overreliance on Son has always been a concern for Korea, but Tuesday’s game in particular showed a marked change of direction, with the rest of the attacking line looking far happier to try things on their own without constant attempting to flip the ball to the captain.

Korea played all four games without regular center back Kim Min-jae, who is recovering surgery, and injured veteran midfielder Lee Jae-sung. Wolverhampton Wanderers forward Hwang Hee-chan also sat out the last two games as he went into military basic training, while veteran defensive midfielder Jung Woo-young dropped out of the squad after the first two games.

But despite the absence of some key players, Korea still rallied and showed clear improvement as a team. New injuries permitting, Korea should be back to full strength long before the World Cup.

The national team are now expected to break for the summer as the K League resumes on Friday. Players based overseas may also have to return to their clubs to fulfill offseason commitments.

The national team will reconvene in the middle of July when Korea heads to Japan to defend their title as reigning champions at the 2022 EAFF E-1 Football Championship.