S. Korea fall to Brazil in U-23 men's football friendly

▲ Oh Se-hun of South Korea reacts after missing a penalty against Brazil during their under-23 men's football friendly match at Al Salam Stadium in Cairo on Nov. 14, 2020, in this photo provided by the Korea Football Association. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

▲ Lee Dong-gyeong of South Korea celebrates his goal against Brazil during their under-23 men's football friendly match at Al Salam Stadium in Cairo on Nov. 14, 2020, in this photo provided by the Korea Football Association. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

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S. Korea fall to Brazil in U-23 men's football friendly

By Yoo Jee-ho

SEOUL, Nov. 15 (Yonhap) -- South Korea blew an early lead and missed a first-half penalty in a 3-1 loss to Brazil in a friendly between their men's under-23 national teams in Egypt.

Midfielder Lee Dong-gyeong gave South Korea a 1-0 lead in the seventh minute at Al Salam Stadium in Cairo on Saturday (local time), before giving up three straight goals to wrap up their three-nation tournament.

Coached by Kim Hak-bum, South Korea played the hosts Egypt to a scoreless draw on Thursday.

All three countries have qualified for next year's Tokyo Olympics. South Korea won the Asian qualifying event in January, and Egypt topped the African qualifying. Brazil are the defending Olympic champions.

These were the first international matches for Kim's squad since that Asian qualifying event in January. Kim had said he considered the trip to Egypt to be his final opportunity to check on Europe-based youngsters in person and see if they'd be good enough to play in the Olympics.

Kim put five of his seven Europe-based players into the starting lineup against Egypt. But with a quick turnaround for the Brazil match, Kim sent out a vastly different lineup this time, featuring none of the players from Europe.

Wearing the captain's armband, Lee stunned Brazil just seven minutes into the contest, as he fired home a right-footed shot. It was the first goal by South Korea against Brazil at the U-23 level in four matches.

South Korea were awarded a penalty in the 24th minute when forward Kim Dae-won was tripped up by Lyanco in the Brazilian box.

Oh Se-hun stepped up to take the spot kick but rang his left-footed shot off the crossbar.

Brazil saw an opening from that missed opportunity and leveled the score in the 42nd minute on Matheus Cunha's goal.

Rodrygo put Brazil ahead just past the hour mark, when he slotted home the rebound after goalkeeper Song Bum-keun stopped an initial shot by David Neres.

Reinier rounded out the scoring for Brazil in the 73rd, as the South Korean defense looked increasingly helpless against the skilled South Americans.

Much as he did after the Egypt match, Kim refused to make much of the final outcome, saying the two matches are only part of the process leading up to the Olympics.

"These matches were significant in the sense that I had a chance to see many different players, and the results weren't really that important," Kim said. "I don't think I can single out any player that stood out, but I was able to get a general picture."

Kim said problems on defense were mostly due to the absence of natural centerbacks, though he stressed the backline still had to be better.

"We have to be sharper on offense, too," the coach added. "We could've created better opportunities."

Kim said he would need more time to make the call on where his Europe-based players stand.

Lee Dong-gyeong, the lone Korean scorer, said he and his teammates went into the match feeling confident they could hang with the gifted Brazilian players.

"They're a world class team, and I think facing a team like that can be meaningful experience," Lee said. "We'll be going up against countries like that at the Olympics, and this was a good opportunity for us to prepare for that."

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