South Korea Falls to Sweden 1-0 in Group F Showdown

[pearlychoco.livejournal.com]

South Korea fell to Sweden 1-0 in their World Cup Group F showdown on Monday, unable to put a shot on target after wasting a promising start.

Swedish captain Andreas Granqvist converted a 65th-minute penalty following a video review at Nizhny Novgorod Stadium in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia, and the 24th-ranked Europeans held on for a clean sheet victory over 57th-ranked South Korea.

This was South Korea's first loss in their World Cup opener since 1998.

South Korea will next face world No. 15 Mexico at Rostov Arena in Rostov-on-Don on Saturday. Mexico stunned the defending champions Germany 1-0 on Sunday.

South Korea put on some early pressure before Sweden turned the tide in their favor. For all their superior possession numbers early, South Korea made just one shot attempt, and none on target, in the first half, while Sweden had eight attempts, with two on target.

Sweden broke the deadlock in the 65th minute thanks to Granqvist. Moments earlier, Viktor Claesson was taken down by Kim Min-woo in the box, but referee Joel Aguilar initially let the play continue. He later signalled for a review by the video assistant referees, who determined that Kim committed a foul after all by tackling Claesson without touching the ball.

Granqvist then stepped up and put it to the bottom right corner past South Korean keeper Jo Hyeon-woo, who'd made some spectacular saves earlier to keep the match scoreless.

South Korea kept buzzing around the Swedish net, with nothing to show for their effort. Second-half sub Lee Seung-woo, making his World Cup debut at 20 in the 73rd minute, failed to spark the stagnant offense.

Is anyone watching the World Cup this year? And if so, which team(s) are you rooting for? I have the biggest soft spot for Belgium.

Source: Korea Herald

Comments

[goshipgurl.livejournal.com]

ofc im rooting for germany but LMAOOOOOO we are so flopping this year. i lowkey expected us to flop after the 2 test matches but yesterdays game... iexpectednothingandimstillletdown.gif

at least mats looked handsome as always <3

mark my words:

sweden vs germany 2:1
south korea vs germany 0:1

but tbh most favorites aren't really bringing it this year.

[pearlychoco.livejournal.com]

i had such high hopes for yesterday's game against Mexico, but they let me down :| but i am super pumped for saturday's game against sweden!

[kyulkyung.livejournal.com]

sweden was trash, they're not gonna beat germany lmao.

[daynr.livejournal.com]

The household I'm staying at is half born German and half born Mexican, with a few Americans sprinkled it. The Germany-Mexico match was so fun to watch. So fun. I'm rooting for the US rival that actually qualified, Mexico!

[peacefulscream.livejournal.com]

South Korea were really bad. They were lucky to lose by just one goal. I do hope they sort things out because Mexico will be tougher than Sweden.

I want Ronaldo to win the World Cup before he retires.

[goshipgurl.livejournal.com]

I want Ronaldo to win the World Cup before he retires.

and i want him to go to jail.

[tsuyoi-hikari.livejournal.com]

lol why?

[goshipgurl.livejournal.com]

He's a rapist

[ironicmustache.livejournal.com]

op, you should compile some of the tweets of the war between kpop stans/koreaboos and world cup stans in the SWEKOR tag lmao

i only watched like the last 15-20 minutes of this game and it was a shit show. both teams looked god awful.

i don't know who i'm pulling for really ... iceland, of course. then i guess teams that have spurs players in the squad (belgium, england, korea), then other individual players i like (egypt, brazil, germany) and then if it's two teams idk about its down to whose hotter lmao. it's kinda nice not stressing too much over results as a consequence of your country not making it!
there's been too many pks so far tho. my ass can't handle that kind of pressure. i have to mute the game every time one comes up lol

[dbsked.livejournal.com]

the football fans I know all said that Sweden was lucky to get the penalty, both teams were just bad.

they also said that the penalty was unfair, as the player touched the ball first, so I expected some angry reactions from k-netizens and kpop fans.. but I actually see totally opposite.

I haven't watched the game, so I do not have my own opinion xD

[nana-the-dwarf.livejournal.com]

I still can't believe Mexico beat Germany. The cheering all around woke me up; I thought it was another earthquake.
Wonder how we'll fare against South Korea. Are they good players?

[ironicmustache.livejournal.com]

my bb son heung min is great ... except his national teammates are of significantly less quality than his club teammates so he doesn't really get to show any greatness. they play like they don't really have a plan and just hoof the ball around, son trying to set up plays but no one really there to receive them and if he tries to do it alone he's pretty easy to shut down cause everyone knows he's the star of the team so they're prepared to deal with him. ki seung yeung is their other notable player, and again it's pretty easy for defenses to deal with him.
you'll be able to deal with them pretty easily. i doubt the manager will even need to give a "dont be scared of losing" speech like he did for germany. mexico's team is much much more organized than sk.

[minah-aplus.livejournal.com]

not the original commentator, but thanks for this! I'm hoping it'll be a good game to watch

[nana-the-dwarf.livejournal.com]

Thanks! All I want for is a clean game and for fans to behave. Some Mexican fans have been gross about the win, as if it's a bigger deal than what it is.

[dbsked.livejournal.com]

congratulations on the win ^__^

[nana-the-dwarf.livejournal.com]

Haha, you're sweet. I don't follow soccer, but thanks. :3

[minah-aplus.livejournal.com]

I think I read somewhere that all the jumping around in celebration triggered an artificial quake in Mexico city.

[nana-the-dwarf.livejournal.com]

They triggered the sismic sensors, but not actual earthquake, that would've been nuts.

[donutism.livejournal.com]

I always root for Germany so I guess I am this year too.

[madrigalpals.livejournal.com]

France is the country that got me into football during the World Cup in 2006, so I'll always support France (along with a seething resentment towards Italy). I like Mexico, Egypt, Colombia, and Iceland! I normally root for the Ivory Coast but they didn't qualify this year :(

I hate England and their fans are insufferable.

[tsuyoi-hikari.livejournal.com]

Okay, what Metarazzi did to Zidane was dirty and I will not defend it anyway but Italy won the WC fair and square that year. They are no doubt the best team in the whole tournament and only conceded like 1 goal before the final against France. And Pirlo was exceptionally awesome that year and I'm glad he got the Golden Ball award together with Zidane & Cannavaro.

lol I have the duty to support Italy since half the team consists my winning AC Milan Champion League team. :D

[madrigalpals.livejournal.com]

omggg you went IN, i'm happy for that iconic moment between Zidane and Matarazzi especially since it's been twelve years and Zidane still would "rather die than apologize." Italy played well that year and Pirlo is a legend! it's unfortunate that they've had some coaching issues recently resulting in them not qualifying this year, I mean I always root against Italy but I can't do that if they're not there

I do like Mario Balotelli, though!

[tsuyoi-hikari.livejournal.com]

lol he wouldnt. But what a way to end up your football career that way. I feel so bad for him.

Yes Pirlo was a legend that year! I'm so proud of him - his playmakinng was so beautiful! I think he assist mostly all of Italy's goals in the WC that year. Him and Gattuso were the heart of the Italian team that year. It was amazing to see the team that you root went all the way to the final in such a style. It was Milan & Italy golden years without a doubt. :D

[blck-ink.livejournal.com]

loool i still remember that day clearly in 2006!! i was so sad france lost!!

[madrigalpals.livejournal.com]

it made me love football and i will support France until the day I die

that headbutt though

[tsuyoi-hikari.livejournal.com]

IDK but everytime I see South Korea football team, I will remember the unfair game against Spain in 2002 WC and it got me so riled up lol!

[ashdevilrun23.livejournal.com]

i don't really care about football but i'm enjoying the memes

[yxerin.livejournal.com]

i guess i shouldn't celebrate bc sweden was apparently shit but... HEJA SVERIGE friskt humör det är det som susen gör HEJA HEJA HEJA

no but. idg why football is so popular here when we're mediocre at it, we should just focus on stuff that we're good at (ice hockey) and be done with it lol

[ruledaworld.livejournal.com]

Never change, Tess

[yxerin.livejournal.com]

........i have no idea what this means or why you referred to me as tess, but thanks ig? lmao

[yejun.livejournal.com]

lmao a friend seems to have forgotten my username and assumed I'm the only Swede on omona🇸🇪
Hej, det är jag som är Tess.

[yxerin.livejournal.com]

lmaoooooo omg, well that explains it. hej!! jag hoppas att vi inte är de enda svenskarna här lol

[yejun.livejournal.com]

🇸🇪🇸🇪🇸🇪🇸🇪🇸🇪🇸🇪🇸🇪🇸🇪

[minah-aplus.livejournal.com]

Yass I'm rooting for Mexico (or any South American team after Mexico gets knocked out lol). Their game against Germany was actually really good. I was praying for at least a draw but I was so so surprised.

[daynr.livejournal.com]

Mexico won me over when they went so happy celebrating beating German! I just want two new teams in the Finals this year, no redemption for Brazil and no Germany (who I often happily root for.) Let's get some new flavor in in the finals! And definitely for some underdogs to go far. Go Iceland!

[blck-ink.livejournal.com]

sweden vs sk was so underwhelming. but i wasn't reallh rooting for either teams so i didn't really care.

i'm rooting for belgium but just like last wc they piss me off lol!! their games are always so predictable with them only getting into action later during second half or when someone scores a goal (which, again, mostly happens second half of the match). which is a shame cause they have some of the best players but when it comes to playing together something's off.

other then belgium i's always rooting for france and every african country!!

[mntsuklaa.livejournal.com]

I'm rooting for Iceland!! I fucking love that their coach is a dentist (and apparently had to request time off in order to go to the games lmao). Overall they seem like a down to earth team that gets shit done.
Other than that I have individual favorite players that I keep an eye on.

I found out a couple of days ago that Mo Salah is a 92er and my mind is still blown. He looks older than me but he's the same age as my younger brother.

[jackieee94.livejournal.com]

Sweden vs South Korea was a horrible match. Both teams played sooooo bad, it was painful to watch. Neither team deserved a win. Nevertheless, I’m excited to see how they’ll do against Germany and Mexico lol

Here’s hoping Mexico doesn’t embarrass me on Saturday \0/. I think the last time Mexico and SK played together was four years ago(?) Both teams are fast on their feet especially SK. Both have good goal keepers too. I just hope Chucky doesn’t get hurt :(

[franc73.livejournal.com]

they used to play with such power - need to play like 2002 -2010