Korea Republic men’s national team shared spoils in their first friendly since the FIFA World Cup in Qatar last year.

Jurgen Klinsmann’s charges were held to a 2-2 draw by Colombia in a friendly at Munsu Football Stadium in Ulsan on Friday. Captain Son Heungmin gave his side a two-goal lead in the first half, before the South Americans restored parity inside five minutes early in the second period. Son became Korea Republic’s most prolific scorer from set-pieces in the process, curling his second of the night with a sublime free-kick to mark his fifth for the Taegeuk Warriors.

Ulsan was in a festive mood with a sell-out crowd of 35,727 flocking to the stadium at Munsu. The national team will take on Uruguay in their second friendly to be staged at Seoul World Cup Stadium on Tuesday.

It was a celebratory match for the fans to acknowledge the achievement of reaching the round of 16 at the world finals. Klinsmann had admitted prior to these friendlies that “they deserve the praise for reaching the second round. It is the right place to celebrate.” Kim Younggwon had another reason to celebrate as well, for making his one hundredth appearance for Korea Republic against Brazil in the round of 16 in Qatar.

Klinsmann opted for those who featured prominently at Qatar 2022: Kim Seunggyu between the sticks; Kim Jinsu, Kim Younggwon, Kim Minjae and Kim Taehwan at the back; Jung Wooyoung and Hwang Inbeom in defensive midfield; with Jeong Wooyeong, Son Heungmin and Lee Jaesung supporting lone striker Cho Guesung.

The kick-off was delayed for 20 minutes as the Colombians had arrived late at the stadium due to heavy traffic, and the hosts piled the pressure up against their rivals who struggled to find their rhythm.

The aggressive approach paid dividends for the hosts after ten minutes. Under pressure from Cho Guesung, Colombia goalkeeper Alvaro Montero was forced to lay the ball off to Johan Mojica, whose attempted clearance fell into the path of Son. The captain had enough space and time to lose his marker before curling the ball into an empty net.

Colombia still struggled to match the pressure and sought to keep the hosts at bay with tough tackles. Kim Jinsu had a knock on his waist amidst the intensified battle, and was stretchered off to be replaced by Lee Kije on 24 minutes.

Nevertheless, Korea Republic surged forward to create more chances from set-pieces. Son saw his free-kick from the edge of the area sail just over the crossbar, before another attempt from substitute Lee Kije was denied by the goalkeeper. Son was then awarded a penalty following a scramble on the edge of the area, only for the decision to be overruled after a VAR review.

However, Son stepped up to convert a free-kick on the stoke of halftime, curling a right-footed effort through the wall and into the bottom lefthand corner. Having scored three goals in two matches against Colombia in 2017 and 2019, Son netted against the South Americans for the third time in succession (five goals in total). Son also became the first Korea Republic player to have scored in three straight games against the same opponent from other continent than Asia: 17 former players including Cha Bumkun (against India) and Lee Donggook (against Kuwait) had scored three times in a row against Asian countries.

But Colombia refused to go down without a fight, as they came back with quickfire goals from James Rodriguez and Jorge Carrascal right after the restart.

After the two-goal cushion had evaporated, Klinsmann responded by replacing Cho Guesung and Jeong Wooyeong with Oh Hyeongyu and Lee Gangin respectively on the hour mark, before Son Junho and Na Sangho came off the bench to replace Jung Wooyoung and Lee Jaesung on 69 minutes.

Substitutes Oh and Lee did manage to create chances midway through the second half, though the men in red could not translate them into advantage as the match ended in a stalemate.

Korea Republic national team friendly presented by Hana Bank

Korea Republic 2-2 Colombia

Scorers: Son Heungmin 10’, 45’+1; James Rodriguez 47’, Jorge Carrascal 49’

KOR: Kim Seunggyu, Kim Jinsu (Lee Kije 24’), Kim Younggwon, Kim Minjae, Kim Taehwan, Jung Wooyoung (Son Junho 69’), Hwang Inbeom, Son Heungmin (c), Lee Jaesung (Na Sangho 69’), Jeong Wooyeong (Lee Kangin 60’), Cho Guesung (Oh Hyeongyu 60’)