Bentoho Crushes Iceland 5-1 Without Overseas Players

[Asia Economy Reporter Gong Byung-sun] The South Korean men's national soccer team, led by coach Paulo Bento, secured a 5-1 victory against Iceland.

On the 15th (Korean time), South Korea, ranked 33rd in the FIFA rankings, defeated Iceland (FIFA ranking 62nd) 5-1 in a friendly match held at Mardan Stadium in Antalya, Turkey.

The opening goal of the match belonged to South Korea. In the 15th minute of the first half, Jo Gyu-seong (Gimcheon) received a pass from Kim Jin-kyu (Busan) and scored with a right-footed shot.

In the 24th minute of the first half, Kwon Chang-hoon (Gimcheon) missed a penalty kick earned by Jo Gyu-seong. However, in the 27th minute, he scored the decisive goal to make it 2-0, compensating for the missed penalty.

In the 29th minute of the first half, Baek Seung-ho (Jeonbuk) scored a long-range shot to make it 3-0. Although the opponent scored in the 9th minute of the second half, Kim Jin-kyu scored in the 28th minute and Eom Ji-seong (Gwangju) followed with a goal in the 41st minute of the second half.

Four players scored their debut goals in A matches that day. Kim Jin-kyu, Eom Ji-seong, Jo Gyu-seong, and Baek Seung-ho were the protagonists. Kim Jin-kyu had an outstanding performance with 1 goal and 1 assist in his A match debut.

On the 21st, South Korea will play a friendly match against Moldova (FIFA ranking 181st) at the same venue. Afterwards, on the 27th, they will travel to Lebanon for the 7th round of the Asian qualifiers for the Qatar World Cup.