Chile football coach says high-pressing tactic worked vs. S. Korea

SUWON, South Korea, Sept. 11 (Yonhap) — Chile football coach Reinaldo Rueda said Tuesday that his tactic to deny South Korea’s buildup strategy worked well even though his side failed to get a win.

Chile, ranked 12th in the latest FIFA rankings, were held by 57th ranked South Korea to a 0-0 draw at Suwon World Cup Stadium in Suwon, south of Seoul.

“Both teams had a good game,” Rueda said. “We learned some positive things from this match, and it will help us to make progress in the future.”

Chile created promising chances throughout the match with their high-pressing game, but failed to hit the net. Diego Valdes could have become the hero for the visitors in second-half stoppage time, but his attempt flew over the empty net.

“South Korea appear to be emphasizing buildup from behind, so we prepared our tactics to deny that,” he said. “We couldn’t keep that high-pressing game until the end of the match, but it was executed well in some periods of the game. Of course, there were moments South Korea overcame that pressing, but we also created good chances from that.”

Rueda’s side arrived in South Korea without playing a friendly match with Japan on Friday. The friendly in Japan was canceled due to an earthquake in Hokkaido.

“South Korea were coming off a match against Costa Rica, but we came here without playing a match,” he said. “If we kept our composure in goal scoring chances, we could have gotten a good result. But overall, we played a good game.”

Chile saw their star player Arturo Vidal proving his reputation as one of the top class midfielders in the world. With his work rate, the FC Barcelona man was a consistent threat to South Koreans until he was substituted in the 72nd minute.

“Vidal is a great player, and he has passion and desire for this national team,” he said. “He played quite a long time tonight because he didn’t play in Japan. We know that, and we’ll keep working with his club about his playing time with the national team.”

Chile national football team head coach Reinaldo Rueda (L) shakes hands with South Korea head coach Paulo Bento before the kickoff of a friendly football match between their teams at Suwon World Cup Stadium in Suwon, south of Seoul, on Sept. 11, 2018. (Yonhap)