Korean football team players celebrate their first goal against El Salvador during the teams' freindly match at BYU South Field in Provo, Utah, Wednesday. Yonhap
Only days after enjoying a goal fest, Korea were mostly held in check by the pressing defense of underdogs El Salvador in their final friendly match before next week's FIFA World Cup.
Lee Dong-gyeong's free kick goal in the 57th minute was the difference in Korea's 1-0 victory Wednesday at BYU South Field in Provo, Utah. Aside from the set-piece goal, Korea didn't generate many dangerous looks — against a team sitting 75 spots lower in the FIFA rankings at No. 100. They didn't look like the same team that trounced Trinidad and Tobago 5-0 on Saturday, although, as coaches across many sports like to claim, opponents have a say in these things.
El Salvador pressed harder and presented more of a physical challenge than Trinidad and Tobago. They applied particularly hard pressure on Korea's two key midfielders, Hwang In-beom and Lee Jae-sung, whose vision and passing skills often create scoring chances.
Starting forward Cho Gue-sung, who had a size advantage over El Salvador defenders and thus would have been a threat to score headers, barely received any passes in the box. Korea's 72 percent ball possession number was misleading because they made more lateral and back passes than forward ones.
