Don't Miss

South Korea gets shell-shocked by Algeria 4-2

June 22, 2014

Algeria’s Islam Slimani (13) runs past South Korea’s goalkeeper Jung Sung-ryong, right, after scoring his side’s first goal during the group H World Cup soccer match between South Korea and Algeria at the Estadio Beira-Rio in Porto Alegre, Brazil, Sunday, June 22, 2014. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

By Kim Tong-hyung

South Korea’s 4-2 loss to Algeria was a stinker, a 90-minute demonstration of its atrocious defense and a brain-dead offense that made the statistical outcome feel generous.

With its speed, Algeria was always going to be difficult, but Hong Myung-bo’s men made their opponents look like Barcelona at its suffocating best.

To survive the group stages, Korea will now have to defeat mighty Belgium by at least two goals and root for Russia to defeat Algeria.

Belgium leads Group H after consecutive wins over Algeria and Russia and will probably looking to cement its first-place status against the Koreans to avoid Germany in the round of 16. Algeria, which has four points to Belgium’s six, will be looking to secure its berth in the knockout stages against Russia.

At Sunday’s game in Porto Alegre, the Algerians dominated out of the gate, pressing the high up the pitch and continuously working the ball to Korea’s right-back position where Lee Yong proved to be a liability.

Sofiane Feghouli could have given Algeria the lead two minutes into the game but his left-footer from inside the box was high and wide. Yacine Brahimi squandered another chance three minutes later when his attempt from the center of the box sailed above the crossbar.

It took more than 10 minute for the Koreans to graze the grass of Algeria’s penalty box, but Koo Ja-cheol and Son Heung-min failed to threaten on their consecutive drives.

Slimani, a menace for Korean defenders throughout the night, hit a header wide in the ninth minute. Twelve minutes later, he failed to latch on a diagonal pass with only Korean goalkeeper Jung Sung-ryong to beat.

After relentlessly pounding the Korean defense, Algeria finally broke through in the 26th minute when Slimani was finally rewarded for his efforts. Carl Medjani perfectly measured a pass over the top of Korean defenders and Slimani found just enough room between Kim Young-gwon and Hong Jeong-ho to lift a left-footer to the bottom right corner.

Algeria doubled the lead just five minutes later. Korea conceded a corner kick when a Slimani attempt was deflected wide and Rafik Halliche out-leaped the defenders to send a powerful header into the net.

Things looked almost too easy for the Algerians as they went up 3-0. Slimani nodded down a long pass to Abdelmoumene Djabou who played it back to Slimani. Slimani then released Djabou on a deft through ball and watched his teammate slip it into the net.

Koreans showed more urgency in the second half and Son converted the team’s first shot-on-goal in the 50th minute, gathering a Ki Sung-yeung pass off his back and whipping in a left-footer to make it 3-1.

Korean manager Hong replaced struggling forward Park Chu-young with Kim Shin-wook to further jolt the attack. However, Korea’s momentum was short lived when Yacine Brahimi drilled a right footer from the center of the box that made it 4-1.

Lee Keun-ho, who scored the equalizer against the Russians in Korea’s 1-1 opener, came in for Lee Chung-yong at the 64th minute. He made an impact nine minutes later when he drove into the penalty box and found Koo, who converted from close range to make it 4-2.