International Friendly: South Korea Have Work to Do Against Chile

Korea Republic vs Chile

South Korea’s preparations for the upcoming World Cup are already underway and they’ll play their second International Friendly in four days when Chile visit town.

The Taeguk Warriors were thrashed by the Samba Boys yesterday, so they will be eager to bounce back against La Roja.

Unlike against Brazil where they were the underdogs, South Korea have the better pre-match SBOTOP betting odds against Chile since the visitors are not in their best form and they don’t have much to play for, although their margin for error is smaller than expected.

La Roja just missed out on a berth in Qatar as they only finished seventh at the CONMEBOL standings so they’ll also look to get back on track while creating new chemistry under their new manager.

Talking Points

Korea Republic humbled by the Samba Boys

Last night’s match in Seoul just showed the gulf between the Samba Boys and the Taeguk Warriors. Brazil are the top-ranked FIFA men’s team for a reason, and they proved just that when they outscored 29^th-ranked South Korea with a tally of 5-1.

There were four different scorers for Brazil as Neymar scored a pair penalties, while Richarlison, Philippe Coutinho, and Gabriel Jesus also provided their share of International Friendly 2022 highlights.

Brazil had 25 total shots while South Korea only had seven, although the hosts showed some fight in the first half.

When Richarlison scored the first goal of the match, Hwang Ui-Jo replied with an equaliser in the 31^st minute. But since then, the floodgates were busted open by Neymar and co. in what turned out to be a one-sided affair.

The Samba Boys also did a great job in shutting down Heung-Min Son as the Tottenham forward and Premier League Golden Boot winner failed to make much of an impact in the final third alongside Wolves star Hwang Hee-Chan.

After the match, Son acknowledged that his team has a lot of work to do ahead of Qatar.

“It was an honour to be able to learn from such a world-class team,” Son said. “It was an extremely difficult match for us, but it was also an opportunity to learn a great deal.

“We understand we have a long way to go. But we will do our best until the World Cup and give our fans something to smile about,” he added.

After Brazil and Chile this weekend, South Korea will also play Paraguay and Egypt this month where they’ll face few more top European talents such as Miguel Almiron and Mohamed Salah in the Premier League.

Chile welcome a new coach

With Martin Lasarte sacked after missing out on another World Cup, the Chilean Football Federation confirmed that Eduardo Berizzo is going to be their next head coach and he’ll make his debut on Sunday.

The 52-year-old manager is fresh from a disappointing tenure of his own at Paraguay with back-to-back Copa America quarter-finals exits in 2019 and 2021 along with an eighth-place finish in the recent CONMEBOL World Cup qualifiers.

After South Korea, Chile’s next assignment is against Tunisia in the opening game of the Kirin Cup where Japan and Ghana are also involved.

Leading the way for La Roja are the likes of Alexis Sanchez, Ben Brereton Diaz, Charles Aranguiz, and Erick Pulgar.

History

This Sunday is the first competitive encounter between South Korea and Chile. With no previous sample size to look into, we will instead examine their recent forms prior to this contest.

In their last five international matches, Paulo Bento’s men have gathered three wins and two losses, while Eduardo Berizzo’s current side have only won once and lost four times.

Chile were held scoreless in their previous two games while conceding six goals. Their last clean sheet dates back to November last year against Paraguay.

On the other hand, South Korea have had three clean sheets in their three previous victories. Yesterday’s defeat against Brazil looks like a rare one-off because they’ve never surrendered more than two goals since March 2021 against Japan in an exhibition.

Betting Tip

South Korea are being backed by the International Friendly 2022 odds to win since they’re installed at 2.52, but Chile aren’t far behind at 2.87 and a draw is priced at 2.98 in the 1X2 market.

While this game can go either way, we expect the Taeguk Warriors to win since they’ll be motivated to perform in front of their supporters and because La Roja are likely to use this fixture to shake off some rust.

 

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