Son and star-studded South Korea cruise past Singapore 5-0 in World Cup qualifiers in Seoul
Singapore limited South Korea to just one goal in the first half, but conceded four after the break.
Singapore player Shawal Anuar heads the ball during the World Cup qualifier against South Korea at the Seoul World Cup Stadium on Nov 16, 2023. (Photo: FAS/Stefanus Ian)
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SEOUL: They had promised to take their opponents seriously despite the gulf which separated the two and South Korea did exactly that on Thursday (Nov 16) after a 5-0 win over Singapore in the World Cup qualifiers.
In front of a sell-out crowd of 64,381 at the Seoul World Cup Stadium, the home side ran out comfortable winners against Takayuki Nishigaya’s men courtesy of goals from Cho Gue-sung, Hwang Hee-chan, Son Heung-min, Hwang Ui-jo and Lee Kang-in.
While it might have been a chilly night in Seoul - temperatures were at 6 degrees Celsius after a day of incessant rain - South Korea were quick off the blocks, controlling possession early on.
The biggest cheers of the night prior to the match were reserved for Tottenham Hotspur and South Korea skipper Son. He came close early on with a vicious free-kick from just outside the box which was headed away.
Singapore are ranked 155th, a good way off South Korea's 24th and the gap showed as Jurgen Klinsmann’s team continued to dominate possession and almost took the lead if not for Hassan Sunny.
A spectacular diving header from the Singapore goalkeeper in the first half kept an onrushing attacker from being through on goal and his side in the game.
The alarm bells continued to ring for Singapore as Lee Jae-sung had the ball in the net minutes later but the flag had already gone up.
Vietnam, ASEAN's highest-ranked team, were on the wrong end of a 6-0 thrashing the last time South Korea faced Southeast Asian opposition. The win, which came in a friendly match in October, was head coach Jurgen Klinsmann's third on the trot.
South Korea boast a clutch of stars such as Son, Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Hwang, Paris Saint-Germain’s Lee and Bayern Munich’s Kim Min-jae.
But keeping them at bay in the first 30 minutes required determined rearguard action from the Singapore backline, and in particular Hassan who pulled off a superb stop from Lee.
Six minutes later, Hassan would be beaten but it was the width of the crossbar to Singapore’s rescue as a shot from Cho thundered off it.
The Lions progressed to the second round of qualifying after beating 203rd place ranked Guam 3-1 over two legs.
South Korea are however in a league of their own and Cho got his goal just before half-time after a brilliant ball from Lee.
At this stage, aside from South Korea, Singapore will also have to contend with Thailand (112th) and China (79th).
Nishigaya made two substitutions at the break, with Anumanthan Kumar and Hafiz Nor coming on for Irfan Fandi and Ryhan Stewart.
But whatever impetus the changes were supposed to bring was snuffed out almost immediately as Hwang capitalised on slack defending to head home the hosts' second goal.
Klinsmann had warned before the game that Singapore could pose a threat from set-pieces and the away side proved his point soon after. A Song Ui-young free-kick was bundled into the net for an unlikely goal, only for the offside flag to be raised.
Son would add another goal for South Korea, cutting in and curling an absolute beauty past the despairing Hassan.
The home side would not let up and a poor tackle saw substitute Hwang convert a penalty to make it four.
A sublime strike from Lee late on would send the fans into delirium, as he drilled home from outside the box.
In response to a question from CNA at the post-match press conference, Klinsmann said that Singapore were “impressive” in the first half.
With almost no goal-scoring chances for Son and a difficult first 45 minutes for Lee, he said that scoring the first goal was key.
“I told the (Singapore) coach after the game how they played tactically and defensively, that first half was outstanding,” he said.
“Also physically, they didn’t back off, they were in there, they gave one-against-one challenges 100 per cent. It was impressive, very impressive.”
On the second-half tackle by Singapore's Shah Shahiran that left skipper Son in a pile on the turf, Klinsmann said that the player is now fine. But he expressed his unhappiness at the challenge.
“I was angry when it happened, very angry. It was unnecessary, especially when it’s 4-0. He shook it off, he’s okay,” Klinsmann said.
Meanwhile, Singapore's coach Nishigaya said his players put in a good performance against the home side.
“Korea national team is an amazing team - as a team and as individuals, everything is good. Our players performed well, we showed 100 per cent of what we can do … I’m proud of my players,” he said.
In the other Group C match on Thursday, China beat Thailand 2-1 in Bangkok.
Singapore return home to play Thailand on Nov 21. The first two rounds of Asian Football Confederation (AFC) qualifying for the 2026 World Cup also serve as the first two stages of qualifying for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup.
The top two teams from each group will move on to the next round of the World Cup qualifiers and also qualify for the Asian Cup. The remaining teams will continue to play qualifying matches, but only for entry into the Asian Cup.
The Lions' subsequent qualifiers will be played next year. They will meet China at home on Mar 21 and away on Mar 26 before the return fixtures against South Korea and Thailand on Jun 6 and Jun 11 respectively.
