Son Heung-min laments South Korea’s 3-2 loss to Saudi Arabia

Son Heung-min lamented that South Korea’s efforts did not produce a positive result after they lost 3-2 to Saudi Arabia in a friendly at Jassim bin Hamad Stadium in Al Rayyan. South Korea had 15 shots, six of them on target, but suffered their first defeat to Saudi Arabia since August 2005.

Son said the team would try to learn from the defeat and prepare for their next match against Qatar, scheduled for Tuesday in Doha. He added that communication on the pitch and determination to come back from behind were positive aspects, although the result could obscure what the team had produced.

The match came after Hwang In-beom, Hwang Hee-chan and Kim Min-jae, key figures in the national team, announced that they had put their disagreements with Son over his leadership of the team behind them, following their threat to retire from international football. Son felt there were signs that relations had improved during the match.

Son admitted that he missed a chance in the 66th minute, when he intercepted a weak pass from goalkeeper Mohammed Al-Owais but shot over the crossbar, after Saudi Arabia had gone 3-1 ahead. He apologized to his teammates for not taking the chance, noting that South Korea’s two goals came after good passing moves and were scored by Oh Hyeon-gyu and Lee Jae-sung.