S. Korea falls to Costa Rica in final football friendly of '14 at home

South Korea fell to Costa Rica 3-1 in their football friendly match on Tuesday, unable to contain the FIFA World Cup quarterfinalists in its final contest at home this year.
 

Midfielder Celso Borges scored twice and defender Oscar Duarte had another for the visitors, while forward Lee Dong-gook netted one for the home side before some 39,000 fans at Seoul World Cup Stadium.

This was South Korean head coach Uli Stielike's second match; South Korea defeated Paraguay 2-0 in his debut here last Friday.

South Korea entered the match ranked 63rd in the world, while Costa Rica, which made a surprising run to the final eight at this year's World Cup in Brazil, came in at 15th.

Costa Rica's starting lineup featured nine players from the World Cup squad, including goalkeeper Keylor Navas, who enjoyed a dazzling World Cup with three clean sheets in five matches.

In comparison, South Korea, which was eliminated in the group stage, had six World Cup members in its starting lineup Tuesday, though one of them, midfielder Park Joo-ho, didn't play a single minute in Brazil.

The teams went through cagey opening moments before trading a goal apiece in the first half, with Costa Rica drawing the first blood in the 38th minute.

After forward Bryan Ruiz headed down a long cross in the box, midfielder Celso Borges slipped past Jang Hyun-soo and struck it into the net, out of reach of the diving goalkeeper Kim Seung-gyu.

South Korea nearly tied the score just four minutes later. Kim Min-woo, who scored one of two South Korean goals against Paraguay last week, took a low cross from Ki Sung-yueng on the left side but banged a high shot off the crossbar.

The home team pulled even near the end of the first half. In the dying moments, striker Lee Dong-gook got behind defender Cristian Gamboa near the Costa Rican goal and deftly redirected a low cross by Son Heung-min to make it a 1-1 match.

Costa Rica returned the favor in the opening moments of the second half, as Borges delivered again. David Ramirez got deep into the South Korean box and fooled defender Kim Ju-young before crossing for Borges, who flicked the ball with his right heel past Kim Seung-gyu.

After Borges' goal, South Korea snatched control of the match, though its offensive buildup never bore fruit.

Costa Rica made South Korea pay for its inability to score, as Duarte netted an insurance goal in the 78th. He jumped over goalkeeper Kim to head in a corner taken by Bryan Ruiz, with no South Korean defender guarding him in air.

Captain Ki Sung-yueng tried to bring South Korea closer in the final moments. In the 44th, his free kick from the top of the arc sailed over the net. The following minute, he struck a shot from near the penalty spot that went off the body of a Costa Rican defender and out of play.

Then in injury time, Ki had a goal called back on offside after he jumped on a rebound in goalmouth.

This was South Korea's last friendly match at home for 2014. Next month, the team will travel to the Middle East to face Jordan on Nov. 14 and Iran on Nov. 18. (Yonhap)