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Three goals in three second-half minutes ultimately condemned the Lions to a bruising defeat on home soil.
South Korea’s Son Heung Min attempts to dribble past Singapore’s defence during a FIFA World Cup qualifier match against Singapore on Jun 6, 2024. (Photo: CNA/Eugene Goh)
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SINGAPORE: With Son Heung-min firing on all cylinders, South Korea romped to a 7-0 victory against Singapore at a sold-out National Stadium on Thursday (Jun 6).
Doubles from the unstoppable Son and PSG star Lee Kang-in as well as goals from Joo Min-kyu, Bae Jun-ho and substitute Hwang Hee-chan wrapped up the three points as the Lions remain rooted to the bottom of their World Cup qualifying group.
In front of 49,097 fans, Tottenham Hotspur forward Son looked dangerous straight from the off, as he wreaked havoc on the left flank.
But it was a moment of magic from Lee which gave the South Koreans the lead, after he wriggled past two defenders and hammered a strike past Hassan Sunny.
Minutes later, Singapore fashioned a good chance at an equaliser, but a glancing header from midfielder Hami Syahin was pushed away smartly by Jo Hyeon-woo.
South Korea interim head coach Kim Do-hoon’s team were clearly looking to stretch play down the sidelines and they doubled their lead in the 20th minute after Kim Jin-su whipped a delicious cross into the Singapore penalty box.
Lurking was Joo, who had the freedom of the box to plant a downward header home.
Singapore struggled to craft much going forward as the South Koreans almost tripled their lead after a defensive mix-up soon after.
South Korea are currently ranked 23rd in the FIFA World Rankings, while Singapore sit in 155th spot.
After the half, Tsutomu Ogura’s men looked energetic, but their opponents were content to soak up the pressure before playing their way out from the back just as they had in the first 45.
And it was Son once again who beat his man and squared a delicate cut-back, only for the pass to elude everyone.
This was Ogura’s second home match as Singapore’s head coach. Singapore held China to a 2-2 draw in his first match in charge, before losing 1-4 in the reverse fixture in Tianjin.
Singapore had lost their first two matches in their qualifying group last November, with a 3-1 loss to Thailand and a 5-0 drubbing by South Korea in the reverse fixture in Seoul.
Speaking to reporters at a post-match press conference, Ogura said their opponents showed “a different class”.
And a player who was doing just that was the energetic Son, who was at the centre of everything good for his side, as he slalomed into the box and curled a strike past Hassan in the 53rd minute.
It would be the first of three goals in three minutes.
With the Lions reeling, another poor defensive display saw a pass find Lee in acres of space in the 54th minute and he would make no mistake.
Then it was Son again as he tucked home another brilliant strike, this time from just outside the box, in the 56th minute.
To the disappointment of some in the stadium, he would be denied his hat-trick with 15 minutes left on the clock after a good stop from Hassan.
While he said that he did hear some “bad words” from fans, Son said he still enjoyed the atmosphere.
“I have a lot of fans in Singapore which I really, really appreciate. (But) when you play against each other, it’s like a war. As a fan, you can’t just support the opposite player which I totally understand,” he added.
“They have fantastic fans today and … massive, massive respect for this kind of support, and this kind of stadium environment.”
But South Korea were not done, as Bae (79th minute) and Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Hwang (82nd minute) wrapped up a scintillating showing as fans began to trickle out of the stadium.
“I apologise to the Singapore fans,” said Ogura. “(There were) so many people coming today to watch the game but we couldn’t show our football.”
The Japanese coach added that his players got nervous and “a little bit scared” as the game progressed, and that is something the Lions need to work on.
“When you look at the results, probably everybody will say the Singapore team was really poor, but it wasn’t the case. They fought and we were more clinical … and we took the chances really well,” said man-of-the-match Son.
He was diplomatic when asked about the standard of Singapore football, pointing out that the standard in Asia has improved “really, really fast” as highlighted by performances at this year’s Asian Cup.
“They have to keep working hard because it’s not going to change day by day. They need to sacrifice and they need spend some time (working at it) … I’m pretty sure Singapore football will be massive because they have amazing fans.”
Singapore, who have one point from five matches, will next face Thailand in an away clash next Tuesday.
For viewers in Singapore, here are the match highlights:
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