With Sonny down, veteran, young guns step up game for S. Korea in World Cup qualifying win

With South Korea missing their injured captain Son Heung-min for a key World Cup qualifying match against Jordan in Amman Thursday, one of his closest friends on the national team raised his game a notch.

He had support from a couple of youngsters, too.

South Korea beat Jordan 2-0 at Amman International Stadium for their second consecutive win in Group B of the third round in the Asian World Cup qualification.

Mainz 05 midfielder Lee Jae-sung headed in the first goal in the 38th minute, after South Korea narrowly avoided conceding goals in the early moments.

Lee, with 12 goals in 91 matches, isn’t close to being the goal poacher that Son is. Son ranks third on the all-time South Korean scoring list with 49.

But Lee is a diligent worker and a smart playmaker who can also help out on defense where necessary. As the most experienced player on the team after Son, who has 129 caps, was cut last week with a hamstring injury, Lee played his typically reliable match.

When Lee lines up alongside more gifted attackers such as Son and Lee Kang-in of Paris-Saint Germain, he mostly handles the dirty work. In Thursday’s victory, however, Lee asserted himself more in the attacking third, and his effort paid off with the header goal that broke the deadlock.

“This was not an easy away match,” Lee said. “But we all had a strong desire to win. We were able to come together as one for this victory.”

The win provided a measure of revenge for South Korea, after they had lost to Jordan 2-0 in the semifinals of the Asian Football Confederation Asian Cup in February.

Lee, who had played in that loss eight months ago, said the crushing defeat forced South Korean players to focus extra hard for Thursday’s match.

“I think it showed in the way we played today,” Lee said. “And that kind of mindset will help us for the rest of this round.”

Lee, 32, said he felt the future of South Korean football is in good hands, considering the way some young players performed in Son’s absence.

“I’ve been trying to teach them about the right attitude to have when playing for the country,” Lee said. “I think we all gained confidence from this match and it will serve us well going forward.”

In the second half, Oh Hyeon-gyu, 23, and Bae Jun-ho, 21, took over.

About six minutes after the restart, Bae, an emerging star for Stoke City, came on for Swansea City midfielder Eom Ji-sung. Eom had replaced Hwang Hee-chan of Wolverhampton Wanderers in the 23rd minute after Hwang suffered an apparent leg injury, but Eom sustained an injury of his own.

While making that substitution, head coach Hong Myung-bo also replaced starting striker Joo Min-kyu with Oh, giving the KRC Genk forward his first international appearance in eight months.

The two connected for South Korea’s second goal in the 68th minute.

Following a Jordan turnover, Bae secured the ball on the left side and fed it forward to Oh. The forward walked into the box and created enough space in front of defender Abdallah Nasib to fire a right-footed shot into the bottom left corner. It was Oh’s first goal in his 12th international match.

“This was such a difficult match and I am just happy we came away with the victory,” Oh said. “We had so many fans here supporting us and I am really happy that we gave them this win in return. It took me a while to get the first goal out of the way and I will try to keep scoring more goals.”

Oh, playing for South Korea for the first time in eight months, said he wants to show people what he’s capable of.

“Hopefully, I can keep converting scoring chances and give myself a chance to go to the World Cup,” he said. “I know I wasn’t good enough to have made the national team before. Now I want to prove that I can be the top striker for Korea.”

Bae, playing in his third match for South Korea, tried to get in on the scoring act himself in the 80th minute, when he danced past Nasib on the left side of the box and unleashed a thunderous shot right at goalkeeper Yazeed Abulaila.

Bae also impressed with his calm and poised play with the ball at his feet, serving as the team’s offensive fulcrum in the late minutes.

Bae, just four months removed from playing at the FIFA U-20 World Cup, said he was pleased that he made the most of the limited minutes he had.

“Knowing that an opportunity like this doesn’t come often, I thought quite a bit about how to capitalize on it. I am happy I was able to show people what I can do,” Bae said. “It’s nice to get involved in goals for your club. But it means a lot more to do so with the national team.”

With Son out, Bayern Munich defender Kim Min-jae served as South Korea’s captain Thursday. He said he wasn’t about to take over as full-time skipper.

“I was just a temporary captain here. I only tried to have good communication with my teammates,” Kim said. “I am really satisfied with this win in a difficult away match. As a defender, I am especially pleased that we did not concede any goals.”

Both Kim and goalkeeper Jo Hyeon-woo dismissed claims that national team players don’t trust their head coach Hong Myung-bo, who has been dealing with controversy surrounding his hiring process.

Kim said the vibe on the team couldn’t be much better and he didn’t understand why people would say the players and the coach weren’t on the same page.

Jo, who was coached by Hong at the K League 1 club Ulsan HD FC before Hong took the national team gig, said South Korean players have “complete trust” in the bench boss.

“He is a charismatic figure and we all follow his lead,” Jo added. “We are convinced that we will be able to keep playing as well as he did today.”