S. Korea fall 4-1 to Mexico at U-19 football tournament

South Korea's under-19 national football team lost 4-1 to Mexico in an international tournament at home on Friday.

South Korea's second match at the 2018 Suwon JS Cup ended in defeat after they went down to 10 players at Suwon World Cup Stadium in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province.
 

The JS Cup is an international men's U-19 football tournament that features four nations. This year's competition pits South Korea against Morocco, Mexico and Vietnam.

This invitational tournament is organized by the JS Foundation, for which former Manchester United midfielder Park Ji-sung serves as president. Park is currently also head of the youth football strategy department at the Korea Football Association.

In Suwon, both sides had a scoreless first half, but after the break they spiced the match up with five goals between them.

Mexico drew first blood in the 53rd minute with Christopher Brayan Trejo's left-footed strike. South Korea saw further trouble in the 58th, when defender Kim Hyeon-woo received a red card for kicking an opposing player in the face while vying for the ball.

The hosts, however, leveled the score in the 69th minute, when Go Jae-hyeon converted a penalty kick.

Mexico then went ahead in the 74th as Trejo scored his second goal of the night. The visitors didn't stop there -- they further punished South Korea in the 83rd with Daniel Lopez's goal. In second half stoppage time, Diego Hernandez scored a fourth goal for Mexico to seal an easy win.

This was South Korea's first defeat at the tournament. The young Taeguk Warriors beat Morocco 1-0 in their opening match on Wednesday. Mexico are now on two consecutive wins after routing Vietnam 4-0 in their tournament opener.

South Korea, led by head coach Jeong Jeong-yong, will next face Vietnam on Sunday. (Yonhap)