Korea Beats Cameroon in Final Pre-World Cup Friendly

Korea beat Cameroon 1-0 in Seoul on Tuesday in its last friendly match ahead of the FIFA World Cup in Qatar in November.

The win followed Korea's 2-2 draw with Costa Rica in its previous friendly on Sept. 23.

Son Heung-min of Tottenham Hotspur scored the only goal of the match, finding the net on a header off a rebound in the 35th minute after the Cameroon goalkeeper kept out Kim Jin-su's initial shot.

It was Son's second consecutive goal after scoring a free kick in the previous match and his 35th goal in international matches.

National team Head coach Paulo Bento said the team played well overall, pointing to their improved ball possession and the fact that they did not give their opponents many chances.

The team showed improvement in its defense, but cracks appeared in the second half. The offense was also a bit disappointing. Korea had more ball possession and took the lead from the first half but failed to create further goal chances. It managed only six shots on goal, compared to Cameroon's eight.

Despite the 1-0 victory, some say Cameroon was not the best opponent for a pre-World Cup friendly. 

Ranked 38th in the world and an African powerhouse, Cameroon is 10 spots lower than Korea, and its key Europe-based players such as attacker Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting of FC Bayern Munich, midfielder André-Frank Zambo Anguissa of Società Sportiva Calcio Napoli and Michael Ngadeu-Ngadjui of KAA Gent missed the match.

Meanwhile, Lee Kang-in of RCD Mallorca again spent the whole match on the bench. He joined the squad for the first time in 18 months for the last friendlies.

Fans chanted his name, hoping to see him on the pitch, but Bento could not be persuaded.