With South 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. South 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. Lee Jae-sung of South Korea (No. 10) scores against Jordan during their Group B match in the third round of the Asian World Cup qualification at Amman International Stadium in Amman on Oct. 10, 2024. (Yonhap) Lee Jae-sung of South Korea (No. 10) scores against Jordan during their Group B match in the third round of the Asian World Cup qualification at Amman International Stadium in Amman on Oct. 10, 2024. (Yonhap) Mainz 05 midfielder Lee Jae-sung headed in the first goal in the 38th minute, after South 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 South 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 victory, however, Lee asserted himself more in the attacking third, and his effort paid off with the header goal that broke the deadlock. Lee Jae-sung of South Korea celebrates after scoring against Jordan during their Group B match in the third round of the Asian World Cup qualification at Amman International Stadium in Amman on Oct. 10, 2024. (Yonhap) Lee Jae-sung of South Korea celebrates after scoring against Jordan during their Group B match in the third round of the Asian World Cup qu alification at Amman International Stadium in Amman on Oct. 10, 2024. (Yonhap) "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." In the second half, Oh Hyeon-gyu, 23, and Bae Jun-ho, 21, took over. About six minutes after the restart, Bae, an emerging star for Stoke City, came on for Swansea City midfielder Eom Ji-sung. Eom had replaced Hwang Hee-chan of Wolverhampton Wanderers in the 23rd minute after Hwang suffered an apparent leg injury, but Eom sustained an injury of his own. While making that substitution, head coach Hong Myung-bo also replaced starting striker Joo Min-kyu with Oh, giving the KRC Genk forward his first international appearance in eight months. The two connected for South Korea's second goal in the 68th minute. Following a Jordan turnover, Bae secured the ball on the left side and fed it forward to Oh. The forward walked into the box and created enough space in front of defender Abdallah Nasib to fire a right-footed shot into the bottom left corner. It was Oh's first goal in his 12th international match. "This was such a difficult match and I am just happy we came away with the victory," Oh said. "We had so many fans here supporting us and I am really happy that we gave them this win in return. It took me a while to get the first goal out of the way and I will try to keep scoring more goals." Bae, playing in his third match for South Korea, tried to get in on the scoring act himself in the 80th minute, when he danced past Nasib on the left side of the box and unleashed a thunderous shot right at goalkeeper Yazeed Abulaila. Bae also impressed with his calm and poised play with the ball at his feet, serving as the team's offensive fulcrum in the late minutes. Source: Yonhap News Agency
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