South Korea came back from a goal down to beat the Czech Republic 2-1 and get off to a winning start to their World Cup Group A campaign, much to the delight of their fans and the strong local Mexican support they enjoyed in a festive Guadalajara on Thursday.
The Koreans joined Mexico with three points at the top of the group after the co-hosts beat nine-player South Africa 2-0 in the tournament’s opening match in Mexico City.
Ladislav Krejci put the Czechs ahead with a fine header as the European side dominated in the air, but Hwang In-beom equalized soon after and set up substitute Oh Hyeon-gyu’s assist.
Oh had replaced Son Heung-min, who had five chances in the first half alone but endured an off day in front of goal and is still two goals short of the team’s all-time scoring record, failing to add to his 56 strikes.
South Korea next faces Mexico on June 18 and the Czechs travel to Atlanta to meet South Africa the same day.
There were areas of empty seats in the stadium, but the vast majority of the 44,985 spectators were firmly behind the Koreans.
It was a game of contrasting styles, the technical quality and passing range of the Koreans against the brute force and direct style of the Czechs.
The first half was goalless, but the match came back to life in the second half and it was the Czechs who took the lead after 59 minutes when Krejci rose to score with a header after a long throw from Vladimir Coufal.
South Korea were level eight minutes later and it was also a good goal. Lee Kang-in’s excellent through ball created the shooting opportunity for Hwang In-beom and he cut inside before curling a low right-footed shot into the far corner.
Korea were again undone by a free kick when Thomas Soucek headed a free kick home, but the flag was raised for offside as the Czechs’ first World Cup match in 20 years ended in defeat.
