This was the first meeting between Wales and South Korea
Wales prepared for Monday’s crucial Euro 2024 qualifier in Latvia with a goalless friendly at home to South Korea.
Despite declaring beforehand that he would “rather not play” this game, Wales manager Robert Page selected a stronger team than expected.
South Korea enjoyed more possession but it was the hosts who had the better chances, with substitute Kieffer Moore heading against the post in the second half.
As encouraging a display as this was from Page’s men, the most pleasing aspect for the under-pressure Wales boss will have been the managed workloads - and avoidance of injuries - for key players before Monday’s trip to Riga.
If Wales are to have any hope of qualifying automatically for Euro 2024, victory against Latvia is all but essential.
This draw, as creditable as it might be against opponents who reached the knockout stages of last year’s World Cup, meant that Wales have now only won one of their past 13 games.
That poor run of form has led to intense criticism of Page, whose own future will be under scrutiny yet again in Latvia.
Before this compulsory friendly fixture, he was clear that his focus was on Monday’s game in Riga so it was somewhat surprising that he made only three changes from his side’s most recent competitive outing, a 2-0 Euro 2024 qualifying defeat in Turkey in June.
Some may have viewed Page’s selection as an illustration of the pressure he was feeling; that he felt he needed to pick a strong line-up - and potentially risk injuries to important players - against opponents of South Korea’s undoubted quality.
Page would no doubt refute such a suggestion and point to the fact that he was merely ensuring his frontline players had time to play together before the trip to Riga.
As the Wales manager predicted, South Korea dominated possession for long periods but he would have been encouraged by the threat his side posed when counter-attacking.
One flowing passing move ended with Nathan Broadhead, on his first Wales start, playing a through ball to Harry Wilson, whose shot under pressure from Seol Young-woo was saved by Kim Seung-gyu.
Harry Wilson had Wales’ best chance of the first half at Cardiff City Stadium
For all their possession, South Korea were limited to long-distance shots from captain Son Heung-min and Hwang In-beom.
As promised, Page made several substitutions at half-time and the hour mark in order to manage his players’ workloads with the Latvia game in mind.
One of those introduced at the break, Bournemouth striker Moore, had the best chance of the game when he was teed up by a Chris Mepham cross chipped to the back post, but his header hit the post and bounced off Aaron Ramsey’s arm to safety.
Wales looked the likeliest team to win this game but another Kim save, this time to deny a Joe Rodon header, secured a draw for South Korea, whose head coach Jurgen Klinsmann is still without a victory in five matches since he took charge in February.
Ultimately, however, this friendly will have little bearing on the fates of Wales and Page. The only meaningful result will be in Latvia on Monday.
- Line-ups
- Match Stats
- Live Text
Line-ups
Wales
Formation 5-4-1
- 12Ward
- 14Roberts
- 5Mepham
- 6Rodon
- 4Davies
- 3N WilliamsSubstituted forBurnsat 60’minutes
- 8WilsonSubstituted forRamseyat 60’minutes
- 17JamesSubstituted forSheehanat 61’minutes
- 15AmpaduSubstituted forMorrellat 45’minutes
- 23BroadheadSubstituted forBrooksat 73’minutes
- 9JohnsonSubstituted forMooreat 45’minutes
Substitutes
- 1King
- 2Fox
- 7Brooks
- 10Ramsey
- 11Matondo
- 13Moore
- 16Morrell
- 18Cabango
- 19Bradshaw
- 20Burns
- 21Davies
- 22Sheehan
South Korea
Formation 4-4-2
- 1Kim Seung-gyu
- 22Seol
- 15Jung Seung-hyun
- 4Kim Min-jae
- 2Lee
- 24HongSubstituted forHwang Hee-chanat 61’minutes
- 5ParkSubstituted forLeeat 84’minutes
- 6Hwang In-beomSubstituted forLeeat 61’minutes
- 10Lee Jae-sungSubstituted forYangat 84’minutes
- 7Son Heung-min
- 9Cho Gue-sungSubstituted forHwang Ui-joat 74’minutes
Substitutes
- 3Kim
- 8Lee
- 11Hwang Hee-chan
- 12Kim
- 13Kang
- 14Ahn
- 16Hwang Ui-jo
- 17Yang
- 18Oh
- 19Kim Young-gwon
- 20Moon Seon-min
- 21Cho Hyun-woo
- 23Lee
- 25Kim
Match Stats
Live Text
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Match ends, Wales 0, Korea Republic 0.
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Second Half ends, Wales 0, Korea Republic 0.
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Attempt missed. Kieffer Moore (Wales) header from the left side of the six yard box is too high. Assisted by David Brooks with a cross following a corner.
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Corner, Wales. Conceded by Lee Ki-Je.
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Attempt saved. Kieffer Moore (Wales) header from the centre of the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Aaron Ramsey with a cross.
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Offside, Korea Republic. Kim Min-Jae tries a through ball, but Son Heung-Min is caught offside.
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Lee Soon-Min (Korea Republic) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Foul by Ben Davies (Wales).
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Foul by Lee Dong-Gyeong (Korea Republic).
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Joe Morrell (Wales) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Substitution, Korea Republic. Lee Dong-Gyeong replaces Park Yong-Woo because of an injury.
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Substitution, Korea Republic. Yang Hyun-Jun replaces Lee Jae-Sung.
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Delay over. They are ready to continue.
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Delay in match because of an injury Park Yong-Woo (Korea Republic).
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Son Heung-Min (Korea Republic) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Foul by Joe Morrell (Wales).
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Lee Jae-Sung (Korea Republic) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Foul by Ben Davies (Wales).
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Offside, Korea Republic. Lee Ki-Je tries a through ball, but Lee Soon-Min is caught offside.
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Delay over. They are ready to continue.
