South Korea’s soccer team captain Son Heung-min (31, Tottenham Hotspur) accepted the VAR reading result with regret behind him.
The Korean national team, led by coach Jurgen Klinsmann, lost 1-2 in the second friendly match of the March A-match against the Uruguay national football team held at the Seoul World Cup Stadium on the 28th.
At the Seoul World Cup Stadium, where 63,952 spectators gathered, Korea had a head-to-head match against South American powerhouse Uruguay, and the results of two VAR readings made domestic fans sigh.
Korea allowed Sebastian Coates to take the lead in the 9th minute of the first half, and In-beom Hwang scored an equalizer in the 6th minute of the second half to balance the match, but in the 18th minute of the second half, Matthias Vesino gave the lead again.
Korea counterattacked, and in the 32nd minute of the second half, defender Kim Young-kwon scored an equalizer from a corner kick to turn the game back to square one.
However, at this time, the VAR was read, and the referee canceled Korea’s equalizer after confirming a foul by Kim Young-gwon in a contest with the goalkeeper.
About 5 minutes later, Korea once again shook Uruguay’s net. Oh Hyun-kyu, who came on as a substitute in the second half, turned his back on the Uruguay defender and scored the equalizer with a wonderful turning shot.
However, Oh Hyeon-kyu’s goal was also canceled after VAR analysis confirmed that it was offside, and Korea eventually had to finish the game with a score of 1-2.
The scoring scene was canceled twice by VAR, leaving great regret, but national team captain Son Heung-min insisted that the referee’s decision be respected, leaving behind feelings of regret.
Son Heung-min said, “(Football) is a sport that requires respect for the referee’s decision, so we certainly have the right to speak about the referee’s decision, but I think it is a part that must be respected.”
He added, “It was obviously a disappointing situation. Especially in the case of (Oh) Hyeon-gyu, it would be quite disappointing that the goal was canceled even though he scored a great goal in a really important situation.” 스포츠토토
Son Heung-min comforted Oh Hyun-gyu, who had the equalizer canceled, saying, “The team is really more sorry than (Oh) Hyun-gyu, but I think (Oh) Hyun-gyu saved for a really great goal for the next time.”
In addition, he accepted the decision, saying, “These (referee) results are facts in a way. It’s obviously unfortunate because it’s just a little bit of offside or fouling, but I think we should respect this decision because it makes the match result accurate.”