South Korea fell 1-0 to Austria on April 1 (Korea time) at Ernst Happel Stadium in Vienna.
The defeat followed a 4-0 rout by Ivory Coast on March 28 in Milton Keynes, England, leaving South Korea winless in its two-match A match set with the World Cup call-up about three months away.
It was South Korea’s first back-to-back A match losses since June 2023, when it lost 2-1 to Uruguay and 1-0 to Peru.
The March friendlies were framed as dress rehearsals for potential World Cup opponents. The Ivory Coast match was treated as a stand-in for South Africa, while Austria was used to prepare for the Czech Republic, the winner of European playoff Group D.
Hong’s team used a three-back system in both matches but conceded five goals and scored none, exposing problems at both ends of the field.
Against Austria, South Korea started key attackers Son Heung-min (Los Angeles FC), Lee Kang-in (Paris Saint-Germain) and Lee Jae-sung (Mainz) but again struggled to finish chances.
After creating little in the first half, South Korea conceded in the third minute of the second half. Xaver Schlager (RB Leipzig) drove down the right and cut the ball back for Marcel Sabitzer (Borussia Dortmund), who scored with a right-footed first-time shot.
South Korea pushed for an equalizer and had a clear chance in the 17th minute of the second half. Seol Young-woo (Crvena Zvezda) sent a low cross from the right, and Son hit a right-footed first-time attempt that went wide to the right.
In the 29th minute, Son broke in on goal after a through ball from Lee Kang-in but was denied in a one-on-one as his left-footed shot was saved by the goalkeeper.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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