Hong Myung-bo, 55, tasted the pain of group stage elimination at the World Cup in Brazil, where he took charge a decade ago, with a dismal record of one draw and two losses. However, in the first match against Russia, the South Koreans earned a point with a 1-1 draw thanks to Lee Geun-ho's early goal. With the score 0-0, Lee's substitution in the 11th minute of the second half paid off.
A decade later, Hong Myung-bo's substitution strategy seems to have been upgraded. The effective utilization of the late 'joker' has been a big part of the team's four-game winning streak, which included victories in the second through fifth rounds of the North American World Cup qualifiers. From the second match against Oman to the fifth match against Kuwait, Hong Myung-baek came on as a late substitute in four consecutive matches.
In the second match against Oman, he scored the game-winning goal in the 44th minute of stoppage time to make it 3-1 after a narrow 2-1 lead. In the third match against Jordan, Oh Hyun-gyu and Bae Jun-ho combined for a goal six minutes into the second half to make it 2-0 in the 23rd minute. After receiving an assist from Bae Joon-ho, Oh rattled the net with a bold right-footed shot to turn the tide of the game in Korea's favor.
Oh is Hong's favorite substitute, and he also scored in the fourth match at home against Iraq, 메이저사이트 tying the score at 1-1 14 minutes into the second half and giving South Korea a 2-1 lead in the 29th minute off a pass from Lee Jae-sung. Moon Sun-min, who came on alongside Oh Hyun-kyu in that match, also energized the Korean attack with his daring dribbling runs.
Then came the fifth game against Kuwait on Sept. 14. Trailing 2-1 after 15 minutes, Hong Myung-bo took off Son Heung-min, who returned from injury four minutes later and needed to be managed, and brought on Bae Jun-ho. In the 29th minute, after receiving an exquisite through ball from Hwang In-beom, Bae Jun-ho beat one defender with concise ball control before slotting home with his right foot.
Hong Myung-baek has now scored 11 goals in three qualifiers. Four of those goals came from players who came on as second-half substitutes. “The relief of going ahead in the second half slowed down the tempo of the players, and in the Middle East, you often concede extra goals in such situations, but we handled it well,” said Hong Myung-bo, who is known for his mercenary skills, after the win over Kuwait.
