entered the final round of Group A fixtures with their destiny firmly in their own hands. Ninety minutes later, a surprise to South Africa had transformed confidence into uncertainty, leaving Hong Myungbo's side to now rely on results elsewhere if they are to keep their World Cup dream alive.
Despite Korea Republic having , their opponents created more efforts on goal overall and scored the only goal of the match. The Taeguk Warriors, in contrast, were unable to find a breakthrough.
"In football, even if you have a high percentage of possession and control the flow of the match, conceding one goal can mean you lose in the end," Korean defender Lee Hanbeom told FIFA after the game. "You cannot predict the outcome of football matches."
Korea Republic looked likely to finish in the top two of Group A after in their opening match. But a in the next round, followed by the shock loss to South Africa, leaves Lee and his team-mates on the brink of exiting the tournament.
The FC Midtjylland defender felt the same issues were responsible for both of the Taeguk Warriors' group stage defeats, adding: "Defensively, we struggled to win second balls and individual duels," Lee explained. "We lost most of our one-v-one battles, and because those mistakes kept adding up, we conceded goals and lost."
With Czechia losing to Mexico, a draw at would have been enough for Korea Republic to progress. But Lee insisted his side never thought about only chasing a point.
“We were not thinking about a draw,” he said. “We went into the match thinking only about winning and prepared on that basis. The opponent also prepared very well, and things did not go on the pitch the way we hoped or wanted.”
Although Lee and his team-mates dropped to third place with three points and a goal difference of minus one, Korea Republic still have a faint hope of qualifying as one of the best third-placed teams. Eight of the 12 third-placed sides will progress to the Round of 32.
“We have to watch the results of the remaining matches to know our situation,” Lee said. “I think all we can do now is wait and see what happens.”
Jens Castrop, the Korea Republic and Borussia Monchengladbach midfielder, was also left frustrated that his side let control of their own destiny slip away.
“What happened is unfortunate," Castrop said. "We started the tournament well, then conceded an unlucky goal against Mexico. We had one win, and now we have two defeats."
He added: "I don’t think we deserved to lose today. We conceded because of bad luck, or maybe it was my mistake because I didn’t close my legs at the right moment. We gave everything we had, but we did not create enough chances. We needed to be more clinical."
Sources: FIFA Official
