Bento comes to defense of still-shaky backline after friendly victory

Sports 23:23 June 06, 2022

By Yoo Jee-ho

SEOUL, June 6 (Yonhap) -- South Korea head coach Paulo Bento defended his own players better than they guarded their opponents at times Monday, as he tried to deflect pressure from the shaky unit following a 2-0 victory over Chile.

Son Heung-min and Hwang Hee-chan, the country's two Premier Leaguers, had a goal apiece against 10-man Chile at Daejeon World Cup Stadium in Daejeon, 160 kilometers south of Seoul. Their well-struck goals -- Son's coming in his 100th international match -- helped mask some of the lingering defensive problems for South Korea.

South Korea head coach Paulo Bento directs his players during a friendly football match against Chile at Daejeon World Cup Stadium in Daejeon, 160 kilometers south of Seoul, on June 6, 2022. (Yonhap)

The Taeguk Warriors were overwhelmed by Brazil 5-1 last Thursday, struggling especially against some high pressing by the South American forwards. Bento made some lineup changes, with Jung Seung-hyun and Kim Moon-hwan on the back among the new faces, but South Korea's trouble against opposing pressure remained the same.

Chile, despite going down a man after defender Alex Ibacache got sent off early in the second half, still created dangerous chances, with South Korean backs often caught ball watching and reacting a moment or two slow to developing plays. It wasn't until Son's last-minute free kick goal that South Korea and their 42,000 fans could breathe easier.

"In the second half, I think we could have closed the game a little bit earlier, because we had enough opportunities to score the second goal earlier," Bento assessed in his postmatch press conference. "We had some problems (on defense) as well, due to some unnecessary risks we took in some moments of the game."

However, Bento refused to put the blame squarely on his defenders, instead noting his attackers should have also been sharper on that end of the pitch.

"Opportunities we conceded aren't linked with just the defensive process. Many, many times, they're linked with the offensive one," Bento said. "Today, I think that defensively, we had good behavior. We made some mistakes, and we need to keep working to improve in that area."

Son Heung-min of South Korea (R) celebrates after scoring a goal against Chile during the countries' friendly football match at Daejeon World Cup Stadium in Daejeon, 160 kilometers south of Seoul, on June 6, 2022. (Yonhap)

Bento said he was also encouraged by the way his team bounced back after some wobbly early moments.

"I think we didn't start so well in the first minutes, and then we took good control of the game with good transitions," Bento said. "In general, it was a good performance and a good victory, although we have things to improve."

As part of his changes, Bento held out forward Hwang Ui-jo, the lone goal scorer against Brazil. Hwang had gone a year without scoring before last week, and Bento noted he wasn't trying to send any message by benching the veteran striker.

"We have four games in two weeks, and so it's important we manage players in best possible conditions," said Bento, whose team will face Paraguay and Egypt in the next eight days. "(Benching Hwang) was a technical and tactical decision due to the strategy we had for this game. Ui-jo had a good game in a difficult context versus Brazil. We're more than happy with him. We know what he means for us. Sometimes, we need to change, and the change we make has nothing to do with the performance of the players but with the strategy we choose for each game."