South Korea defeated Haiti 2-1 on Saturday in their final tuneup match at home ahead of the FIFA Women's World Cup.
Defender Jang Selgi scored a wonder goal in the 81st minute to break a 1-1 deadlock at Seoul World Cup Stadium in the capital city, and the hosts held on in front of some 9,200 fans for their third straight international victory in the lead-up to the World Cup.
Coached by Colin Bell, South Korea earlier defeated Zambia in back-to-back friendlies in April.
The Taegeuk Ladies, world No. 17, will compete in their fourth Women's World Cup this month. Though the tournament will be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand, all of South Korea's matches, from the group stage to the knockout phase, will be played in Australia.
South Korea's first Group H match is against 25th-ranked Colombia on July 25 in Sydney. Five days later, South Korea will take on 72nd-ranked Morocco in Adelaide. Then on Aug. 3, South Korea will play world No. 2 Germany in Brisbane.
Haiti will also compete in the World Cup. They have been paired with England, Denmark and China in Group D. South Korea and Haiti could potentially clash in the quarterfinals.
The top two teams from each of the eight groups will advance to the knockout stage. This is the first Women's World Cup to feature 32 teams, up from 24 in the two previous iterations.
The South Korean team will travel to Australia on Monday. They are scheduled to play world No. 9 Netherlands in a scrimmage behind closed doors on July 16 in Australia.
Haiti dominated the run of play early on and their hard push paid off in the opening goal by Nerilia Mondesir in the 14th minute. After wingback Choo Hyo-joo failed to handle the ball in her own zone, Mondesir jumped on the loose ball and charged down the left wing, before curling it home past Kim Jung-mi into the South Korean net.
South Korea struggled against speedy and physical Haiti for most of the first half, but leveled the score just six minutes into the second half on Ji So-yun's successful penalty.
Cho So-hyun drew the penalty after being fouled by Sherly Jeudy in the area, and Ji stepped up to beat goalkeeper Kerly Theus for her 67th international goal.
Ji nearly picked up her second goal of the match about eight minutes later with a hard shot from just inside the box, though Theus was up to the task to deny the South Korean midfielder with a diving save.
South Korea went ahead for good in the 81st minute. Taking a free kick on the left wing, Ji sent a low pass to Jang positioned well outside the box, catching the defense off guard when they were preparing for a cross toward the box. With all the time and space in the world, Jang floated a perfectly-placed shot into the top right-hand corner, out of Theus' reach.
Casey Yujin Phair, a half-Korean teenager named to the national team, did not see action on Saturday.
Source: Yonhap News Agency