Korea Republic vs Chile

Daejeon World Cup Stadium plays host to an intriguing international friendly between the Korea Republic and Chile.

South Korea head into proceedings having lost back-to-back international outings for the first time since June 2018, including an underwhelming 5-1 defeat to Brazil last time out. Despite their indifferent record across three previous H2Hs (W1, D1, L1) and the fact they’ve failed to get on the scoresheet in the last two, the ‘Taegeuk Warriors’ will be out to get back to winning ways. Before losing to Brazil, Paulo Bento’s lads had enjoyed a decent eight-match unbeaten run (W4, D4). Four undefeated meetings with CONMEBOL nations (W3, D1) formed part of that streak. While that solitary draw came against Chile of all teams, the three remaining victories all witnessed the Koreans get on the scoresheet first.

In the meantime, Eduardo Berizzo is bracing himself for a touchline debut at Chile. After failing to qualify for a second consecutive World Cup finals, the Chileans appointed the ex-Paraguay head coach as their new chief of staff. Berizzo’s first task as a new manager will be to halt Chile’s run of successive defeats ‘to nil,’ both of which saw them concede 2+ goals. There’s a reason for optimism in Berizzo’s camp, as ‘La Roja’ have only lost one of their last five internationals on foreign soil (W3, D1). Moreover, they are unbeaten in four friendlies outside their homeland (W2, D2), showing motivation in exhibition bouts is not a problem. If that’s not enough to encourage the Chileans, they’ve kept a clean sheet in both previous meetings with South Korea (W1, D1).