With Korea missing their injured captain Son Heung-min for a key World Cup qualifying match against Jordan in Amman Thursday, one of his closest friends on the national team raised his game a notch.
He had support from a couple of youngsters, too.
Korea beat Jordan 2-0 at Amman International Stadium for their second consecutive win in Group B of the third round in the Asian World Cup qualification.
Mainz 05 midfielder Lee Jae-sung headed in the first goal in the 38th minute, after Korea narrowly avoided conceding goals in the early moments.
Lee, with 12 goals in 91 matches, isn’t close to being the goal poacher that Son is. Son ranks third on the all-time Korean scoring list with 49.
But Lee is a diligent worker and a smart playmaker who can also help out on defense where necessary. As the most experienced player on the team after Son, who has 129 caps, was cut last week with a hamstring injury, Lee played his typically reliable match.
When Lee lines up alongside more gifted attackers such as Son and Lee Kang-in of Paris-Saint Germain, he mostly handles the dirty work. In Thursday’s 추천 victory, however, Lee asserted himself more in the attacking third, and his effort paid off with the header goal that broke the deadlock.
“This was not an easy away match,” Lee said. “But we all had a strong desire to win. We were able to come together as one for this victory.”
The win provided a measure of revenge for Korea, after they had lost to Jordan 2-0 in the semifinals of the Asian Football Confederation Asian Cup in February.
Lee, who had played in that loss eight months ago, said the crushing defeat forced Korean players to focus extra hard for Thursday’s match.
“I think it showed in the way we played today,” Lee said. “And that kind of mindset will help us for the rest of this round.”
Lee, 32, said he felt the future of Korean football is in good hands, considering the way some young players performed in Son’s absence.
“I’ve been trying to teach them about the right attitude to have when playing for the country,” Lee said. “I think we all gained confidence from this match and it will serve us well going forward.”