YOKOHAMA, Japan-- South Korea entered the quarterfinal showdown against Mexico in the Tokyo Olympic men's football tournament on Saturday brimming with confidence. The players were riding high from scoring 10 goals combined over their final two Group B matches that sent them to the knockout stage.
Alas, the wakeup call from Mexico was rude and loud. South Korea lost 6-3, a score that didn't truly reflect the gap in quality between the countries.
Defense was nowhere to be found for South Korea at International Stadium Yokohama in Yokohama, south of Tokyo. Mexico deserve credit for demonstrating superior skills, but South Korea made it way too easy for their opponents.
Other than the penalty converted by Sebastian Cordova in the 39th, most other Mexican goals were preventable. Fullback Seol Young-woo had a nightmare of a match trying to guard Alexis Vega on the left wing. Centerbacks Jeong Tae-wook and Park Ji-su got consistently outhustled and outmuscled by Mexican forwards in the danger zone.
On too many occasions to count, South Korean defenders stood around watching as Mexican players attacked with abandon.
They seemed to respect Mexican players too much at times.
It was hard to believe this was the same team that trounced Romania 4-0 and then Honduras 6-0 to close out the group stage. Even accounting for the discrepancy in quality of opponents, the Jekyll & Hyde act was jarring. It's fair to wonder if those easy victories against two teams that both went down a man served as proper preparation for South Korea for the knockout stage.
"It's not that we weren't prepared for this match," Jeong said, choking back tears. "The Mexican players were just better than we were. We all accept that. If we didn't make mistakes, we would have played a better match."
South Korea sorely missed centerback Kim Min-jae, who was initially picked for the team but was dropped at the last minute when his club, Beijing Guoan, refused to release him. Making players available for the Olympic tournament is optional for clubs, unlike FIFA tournaments or international friendlies.
Head coach Kim Hak-bum scrambled to make Park Ji-su a last-minute selection. Park didn't play in either of South Korea's two tuneup matches earlier this month before traveling to Japan, and his lack of cohesion with the rest of the defense corps showed on Saturday.
"I wasn't able to hold things steady at the back. I felt I was well prepared, even though I joined the team late," Park said. "I was confident coming into the tournament. I feel terrible for the coach and for my teammates now."
Head coach Kim said his game plan was to try to match Mexico goal for goal, rather than engaging them in a defensive struggle. The result stunned him.
"I still can't believe we allowed six goals," Kim said. "We prepared for this match as hard as we could, but I suppose we didn't do a good enough of job there. I find it hard to accept that we gave up six goals, but I don't have any other choice now."
Source: Yonhap News Agency.