On the evening of March 21, Beijing time, in the third round of Group C of the second stage of the World Preliminary Asian Region, the South Korean men's football team played against the Thai men's football team at home. In the first half, Choo Min-gyu missed a great opportunity when Son Heung-min broke the deadlock with a flanking goal, and in the second half, Supana equalised and Son Heung-min's goal was disallowed. In the end, South Korea drew 1-1 with Thailand, missing the opening 3 consecutive wins, and accumulated 7 points to continue to lead the standings.
Due to the semi-finals of the Asian Cup, South Korea sacked Klinsmann and appointed local coach Hwang Hee-hong as interim coach to lead the team to the two World Preliminary Tournaments in March. Previously, South Korea has participated in the World Cup finals for 11 consecutive times, and is the Asian team with the most participations, with Son Heung-min, Lee Gang-in, Kim Min-jae and many world-class stars, and the team's participation in the World Preliminary Tournament is just a formality.
In the first 2 rounds, South Korea defeated Singapore and the national football team in a row, accumulating 6 points to lead the standings, and the qualifying situation was very good.
In the latest world rankings, South Korea is ranked 22nd, Asia is ranked 3rd, and Thailand is ranked 101st.
This time at home, South Korea adjusted the starting lineup, Zhou Min-gyu replaced Lee Gang-in, Lee Jae-seong, Son Heung-min, Kim Min-jae, Hwang In-beom and many other main players all appeared.
Facing a strong South Korea away, Thailand almost came back against the hosts, creating a threat in the opening 10 minutes.
In the 6th minute, Thailand sent the ball to the penalty area, Zhao Xianyu did not hit the ball far, and Thailand's supplementary shot was blocked out of the bottom line.
In the 9th minute, Subachai made a slight adjustment on the periphery of the penalty area and bombarded the goal, and the ball was saved by goalkeeper Zhao Xianyou.
South Korea, which gradually entered the state of the game, began to comprehensively suppress Thailand, turning into a half-court offensive and defensive drill, and the attack group led by Son Heung-min and Zhou Min-gyu continued to impact.
In the 20th minute, Hwang In-bum shot a bounce of the ball, causing goalkeeper Bativa to save, and the follow-up Joo Min-gyu missed a great opportunity to score.
In the 30th minute, Son Heung-min took a free kick and hit his teammate's back, goalkeeper Bativa flew to save the ball from the bottom line, and South Korea missed the goal again.
In the 42nd minute, South Korea finally broke the deadlock on the field: Lee Jae-seong inserted into the penalty area and reversed the triangle, Son Heung-min scored with a left-footed push, and the whole team celebrated.
Helping South Korea take a 1-0 lead, this goal was also Son Heung-min's 45th goal for the national team and his 19th goal in the world preliminaries.
Half-time stats show that South Korea had 75% possession, completed 9 shots on goal with 4 on target, plus 5 corners and missed 1 great chance, while Thailand had 3 shots and 1 on target.
In the second half, Thailand stepped up their attack.
In the 60th minute, Thailand quickly counterattacked, Supana passed the ball and received a cross from his teammates to score an empty goal, Cho Hyun-woo made a save, and South Korea was equalized 1-1, which was also the first time South Korea conceded a goal in this World Preliminary Tournament.
In the face of a home equaliser, South Korea made a substitution adjustment, and Lee Gang-in came on as a substitute.
In the 64th minute, Son Heung-min's shot from the edge of the penalty area was saved by goalkeeper Bativa, and shortly afterwards he outflanked and pushed the goal, and the referee signaled that Kim Jin-so was offside, and the goal was invalidated.
At the last moment, South Korea besieged the Thai backline and failed to seize the opportunity to overtake the score, and finally drew 1-1.
This draw allowed Thailand to get a key 1 point, which is definitely bad news for the national football team, South Korea lost points at home, and also missed the opening 3 consecutive wins, so let water give Thailand points and lead to chaos in the standings.