Taeguk Warriors look for second straight win in Paraguay friendly

Son Heung-min tries a shot during training with the Korean national football team at Suwon World Cup Stadium in Suwon on Thursday. Korea will face Paraguay at the stadium on Friday. [YONHAP]

Head coach Paulo Bento and the Korean senior men's team will be back in action for their third game in eight days on Friday as they take on Paraguay in a World Cup tune-up friendly at Suwon World Cup Stadium in Suwon, Gyeonggi.

Korea enter Friday's game in the midst of a grueling schedule that saw them take on world No. 1 Brazil on June 2 and No. 28 Chile on Monday.

The Taeguk Warriors unsurprisingly struggled against the unstoppable Brazil, ultimately losing 5-1 after losing control of the game in the second half. Korea fared much better against Chile on Monday, with Premier League stars Hwang Hee-chan and Son Heung-min combining to deliver a 2-0 win.

That improvement ought to continue against Paraguay on Friday. While Brazil and Chile both outrank Korea on the FIFA World Ranking, the remaining two friendlies this month are both against teams that rank below Korea. Paraguay rank at No. 50 to Korea's No. 29, while Egypt, who Korea will face on June 14, rank at No. 32.

Korea and Paraguay have faced each other seven times, with Korea winning three games, Paraguay taking two and two draws. In recent history, however, Korea have dominated, winning the last two meetings, both friendlies, in 2014 and 2009. Paraguay's two wins both came within a single week in 1986.

The Taeguk Warriors showed a marked improvement in the Chile game. The defense was far more cohesive, the midfield gelled well and attacks were strung together without the momentum petering out.

Wolverhampton Wanderers striker Hwang Hee-chan drew first blood in the 11th minute, picking up a cross on the left wing and then powering his way through a gap in the defense to send the ball flying from outside corner of the box into the top right corner.

Son’s goal didn’t come until the 90th minute, after Hwang Hee-chan was brought down on the edge of the box for a direct free kick. The captain stepped up to take the shot and sent the ball flying around the side of the wall and into the top right corner.

Both were good goals — Hwang’s a beautiful shot after a brilliant drive forward and Son’s a perfectly-executed free kick — but there was still a sense that had Korea been able to buckle down, the final score could have been quite a bit higher.

Captain Son had multiple attempts on goal, showing some fancy footwork to thread his way through the defense before sending the ball just wide of the post on more than one occasion.

The Son effect appeared to be a bit of an issue for the team as a whole. While Son himself struggled to capitalize on his own opportunities, there were multiple instances when attacks fell apart because players were trying too hard to get the ball to the Spurs star rather than take the shot themselves.

Both Hwang In-beom and Um Won-sang, who came on as a substitute in the 75th minute, fell into this trap, with Um sprinting the entire length of the pitch and then passing the ball into a defender when he was just a couple of meters from goal.

Whether the constant Son seeking was on Bento’s orders or just a natural side effect of having a global superstar on the squad is unclear, but the head coach will need to continue to work on finding the right balance between using the Spurs striker to his full potential and encouraging everybody to take the chances they’re given.

That isn’t to say that Korea’s offense was bad. The two goals speak for themselves as far as Son and Hwang Hee-chan are concerned, and a number of the younger players also showed some serious potential.

The next step for Korea will be to build on that success against Chile and continue to develop the rest of the squad. Jeong Woo-yeong, Na Sang-ho, Kim Moon-hwan and Cho Gue-sung all showed momentums of inspiration on Monday and need more opportunities to hone their skills.

That Korea is playing these friendlies without two national team regulars — center back Kim Min-jae and midfielder Lee Jae-sung — is a chance for the younger players to get some more playing time. It's also proof that overreliance on a few key figures is a recipe for disaster — yet another reason to branch out from a Son-centric approach.

The four June friendlies are all part of Korea's preparation for the 2022 Qatar World Cup that kicks off in November. At the World Cup, Korea is competing in Group H alongside Portugal, Ghana and Uruguay. All three of those teams have also been active over the past week, offering some insight into how they're doing in their preparations for the global tournament.

Portugal is currently competing in UEFA's Nations League, where they were held to a 1-1 draw by Spain on June 2 and then beat Switzerland 4-0 on Sunday.

Ghana have been playing Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, beating Madagascar 3-0 June 1 and drawing 1-1 with the Central African Republic on June 4. The Ghanaian side has since flown to Japan where they will face the hosts in a Kirin Cup game on Friday.

With no Copa America scheduled this year, Uruguay have been playing a series of friendlies in the United States. After beating Mexico 3-0 on June 2, Uruguay was held to a 0-0 draw by the United States on Sunday.

Korea will take on Paraguay in a friendly at Suwon World Cup Stadium at 8 p.m. on Friday.

BY JIM BULLEY [jim.bulley@joongang.co.kr]