Son Heung-min scores as Palestine hold Korea to tepid 1-1 draw

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Son Heung-min scores as Palestine hold Korea to tepid 1-1 draw

Published: 20 Nov. 2024, 01:25 Updated: 20 Nov. 2024, 11:19

JIM BULLEY
[email protected]

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

Korea's Son Heung-min celebrates after scoring against Palestine at Amman International Stadium in Amman, Jordan on Tuesday. [NEWS1]

Korea drew 1-1 with Palestine on Tuesday, snapping a four-game winning streak in an unspiring outing at Amman International Stadium in Amman, Jordan.

Hong Myung-bo’s team looked flat and uninspired in their last game of the year, the lineup including European stars Son Heung-min, Lee Kang-in and Kim Min-jae lacking the intensity of their Palestinian counterparts.

With the draw, Palestine, statistically the worst team in Group B of the third round of Asian qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, remain the only team not to fall to the Taeguk Warriors. The two teams drew 0-0 in Seoul in September, Hong’s first game in charge.

Tuesday’s game was disappointing from the start. Palestine opening the scoring, capitalizing on a mistake by two of Korean’s most experienced players to pull ahead in the 12th minute.

The fault lay at the feet of Bayern Munich’s Kim Min-jae and Ulsan Hyundai’s Jo Hyeon-woo. Kim under-hit a pass back to Jo in the 12th minute, with the veteran No. 1 also hesitating and stepping off his line too late. The lack of urgency allowed Palestine’s Zaid Qunbar to nip in and take the ball from Jo’s feet, spinning around the goalkeeper to fire it into the open net.

Korea's Kim Min-jae, center, in action during a game against Palestine at Amman International Stadium in Amman, Jordan on Tuesday. [NEWS1]

That embarrassing mistake briefly lit a fire under the Korean offense, sparking a quick attack and the only genuinely inspired play of the game: A speedy one-two-three from Lee Myung-jae to Lee Jae-sung and on to Son Heung-min and the back of the net in the 16th minute.

And then came 74 minutes of nothing.

For Korea the problems were very clearly at both ends of the pitch.

Korea’s defense is always a concern — the Taeguk Warriors have now conceded in four of the six third round games — and the high press of the Palestinian offense allowed the Middle Eastern side to break through repeatedly, testing Jo or falling foul of a last ditch tackle on the edge of the box.

At the other end of the pitch, Korea appeared incapable of stringing together a convincing shot. While the build-up was there — Paris Saint-Germain’s Lee Kang-in may have been largely sidelined on the wing, but his always-dangerous crossing was still on display — every single attack petered out in front of goal.

Korea's Lee Kang-in reacts during a game against Palestine at Amman International Stadium in Amman, Jordan on Tuesday. [NEWS1]

Not for the first time, Machida Zelvia’s Oh Se-hun was unconvincing out in front, fluffing every last touch to never seriously trouble Palestine goalkeeper Rami Hamadeh. Oh was later subbed off for Ulsan Hyundai’s Joo Min-kyu, but the problems continued.

Even veteran Taeguk Warriors like Tottenham Hotspur’s Son, Feyenoord’s Hwang In-beom and Mainz’s Kim Min-jae struggled in front of goal, either botching attempts or failing to take the shot and instead looking for a pass in an increasingly crowded box.

The result was another painful 90 minutes, and a far cry from the Korean side that scored 11 goals over the preceding four games.

The big anomaly is that its world No. 100 Palestine that continue to disrupt Hong Myung-bo’s run, forcing him to take a draw on his first game in charge on Sept. 5 and bringing him back down to earth with another draw to end the year.

Part of the issue may be that Palestine play football in a way that belies their world ranking. While other AFC teams tend to play heavily defensive against Korea, man marking Son and Lee Kang-in into the ground and forcing the Taeguk Warriors into a grinding war of attrition in the midfield, Palestine play to win.

While there is still a heavy defensive presence at the back, Palestine rely on quick breakaways and long balls to force their way up the pitch, pressing deep into the final third and often putting Korea on the back foot. It’s a concerning sign — while Korea may be able to hold Palestine to a draw, a club with the same approach and a little more fire power would seriously threaten the goal.

Speaking after the game, captain Son acknowledged that it was Palestine, not Korea, that brought their A game.

"I think we made this match difficult for ourselves because of the mistake," Son said. "We tried to bounce back and scored the equalizer pretty early. But we could have won this match if we'd converted our opportunities.

"I'd like to applaud them. I think they were really well prepared despite being in such a difficult situation and they executed their plans really well. I think that's something we can learn from them. I am disappointed that we didn't win and hopefully, we will play better next year."

One bright spot on Tuesday, at least as far as personal records go, was Son’s 51st goal for Korea, moving him into a sole second-place on the Korean men’s all-time list. Son scored his 50th last week, tying with former striker Hwang Sun-hong, and is now seven goals behind record holder Cha Bum-kun.

"It's a huge honor to be in the company of so many great names," Son said. "For now, though, I don't consider my personal records to be all that important. I am more focused on trying to help the team.

"This has been a hectic year and we've played a lot of matches. But result-wise, I think we have been coming up short of 100 percent, sometimes by as much as 10 percent. Hopefully, we will be making up ground so that by time I retire, I will be 100 percent satisfied."

Tuesday’s game ends a busy end of year run, with three international breaks over the past three months. Players will now return to the club’s ahead of the resumption of league action over the weekend, with the next international break not scheduled until March when Korea face Oman on March 20 and Jordan on March 25.

BY JIM BULLEY [[email protected]]