Fantastic equalizer Son Heung-min celebrates with the most A matches!20 min 11 tight
Sep 10, 2025
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South Korea's A national team, led by head coach Hong Myung-bo, is playing a friendly match against Mexico at Geodyspark in Nashville, Tennessee on the 10th (Korea time). In the 20th minute of the second half, South Korea brought the game to square one. 1-1.
South Korea, which has confirmed its 11th consecutive World Cup qualification, switched to the 2026 North Korea-China World Cup mode. The starting point was an away trip to the United States, where the finals were held. He got off to a good start with a 2-0 win in a friendly match with the United States on the 7th. Son Heung-min scored one goal and one assist.
The second opponent was Mexico, ranked 13th in the FIFA rankings. He is the champion of North and Central America, two places above the United States and ten places above South Korea. As it is a warm-up match, head coach Hong has started a large-scale experiment. Compared to the match against the U.S., nine players have been changed.
The tactics were the same. I took out a 3-4-2-1 card that I enjoyed against the U.S. Oh Hyun-kyu (Henk) stood at the forefront, and Lee Kang-in (Paris Saint-Germain) and Bae Joon-ho (Stoke City) were placed as offensive midfielders. The midfield was formed by Jens Kastrov (Mönchengladbach) and Park Yong-woo (Al Ain). Daejeon Hana Citizen Duo and Lee Myung-jae and Kim Moon-hwan were on the left and right. The three-back was composed of Kim Tae-hyun (Kashima), Kim Min-jae (Bayern Munhan), and Lee Han-beom (Mit Willan). Kim Seung-gyu (FC Tokyo), who returned from injury, defended the goal.
South Korea showed good performance in the beginning. When Bae Joon-ho and Oh Hyun-kyu missed a decisive chance, the crisis came. After 22 minutes in the first half, Raul Jimenez finished the cross from Escas with a nice header. The ball went over Kim Seung-gyu and shook the net as it was. There were a lot of defensive numbers, but unfortunately, I missed the striker.
South Korea deployed Son Heung-min at the start of the second half. It was Son's 136th A match. It ranked first in the most A-match appearances in Korean soccer history. He was on par with Cha Bum-keun and Hong Myung-bo, who played in 136 A matches. Son Heung-min, who made his A-match debut at the age of 18 in December 2010 through a friendly match against Syria, recorded a milestone after consistently playing A-match, including three World Cups in 15 years.
Son Heung-min, who stepped up to the left wing, scored an equalizer in the 20th minute of the second half. Kim Moon-hwan's cross from the right headed for Oh Hyun-kyu. Son Heung-min, who was jumping on the ball that flowed after the defense, finished with a nice left foot shot. It was the second consecutive goal.
Reporter Park Chan-joon vanbasten@sportschosun.com
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
