Korea Republic fell to their third loss in four matches as they were beaten 3-1 by Bosnia-Herzegovina in a friendly on Friday.
With the 2018 FIFA World Cup fast approaching, the Taegeuk Warriors looked to have found some form after beating Honduras 2-0 on Monday.
However, they were brought back down to earth at the Jeonju World Cup Stadium by a Bosnia-Herzegovina side who will not be competing at Russia 2018.
It was the visitors who drew first blood in the 28th minute when a left-wing cross by Eldar Civic sailed over the head of Edin Dzeko but fell to Edin Visca, who made no mistake in drilling a low past Kim Seung-gyu.
But, just two minutes later, the South Koreans responded with a fine effort from Lee Jae-sung, who latched onto a neat layoff by Hwang Hee-chan and rode Toni Sunjicโs last-ditch challenge before dinking a neat finish over Ibrahim Sehic.
No victory for ๐ฐ๐ท@theKFA, falling to an ๐ง๐ฆEdin Visca hat-trick in a 3-1 defeat, but they did enjoy a delightful finish from Lee Jaesung ๐pic.twitter.com/WjJSExRUML
โ FIFA World Cup ๐ (@FIFAWorldCup) June 1, 2018
Despite pulling level, the hosts looked out of sorts as they struggled to adapt to coach Shin Tae-yongโs tinkering with a 5-3-2 formation, which saw captain Ki Sung-yueng โ usually the heartbeat in midfield โ deployed as the central centre-back.
This was his 100th cap, mind you. and he was shoehorned into centreback, a position he very rarely plays.
โ NO MORE 3-5-2 (@korfan12) June 1, 2018
Just before halftime, they were exposed as a brilliant 50-yard diagonal ball from Haris Duljevic completely caught out Kim Min-woo, paving the way for Visca to race in behind and clinically finish once more.
Still, Shin persisted with the experiment, making just one substitution until the 75th minute.
The 3-5-2 is a failure. Period. Put it in the trash Shin Taeyong and NEVER revisit it again (please).
โ Tavern of the Taeguk Warriors (@taeguk_warrior) June 1, 2018
However, as he was finally about to inject more firepower with the introductions of Lee Seung-woo and Moon Seon-min, the Bosnians found the killer blow the effectively end the contest,
It was Visca again who proved to be a thorn in their flash as he was picked out by a sublime left-wing cross, which he emphatically dispatched with a first-time volley to complete his hat-trick.
Shin and Korea Republic will now turn their attentions to next Thursdayโs meeting with Bolivia, their second-last warm-up match before opening their World Cup Group F campaign against Sweden on June 18.
[FT]๋ํ๋ฏผ๊ตญ๐ฐ๐ท 1-3 ๐ง๐ฆ๋ณด์ค๋์ํค๋ฅด์ฒด๊ณ ๋น๋
–#๊ตญ๊ฐ๋ํ #๋ฌ์์ #WC2018 #๋ํ๋ฏผ๊ตญ pic.twitter.com/tWHwzuY8S8โ ๋ํ์ถ๊ตฌํํ(KFA) (@theKFA) June 1, 2018
KOREA REPUBLIC: Kim Seung-gyu, Lee Yong, Yun Young-sun (Jung Seung-hyun 75โ), Ki Sung-yueng (Kim Shin-wook 86โ), Oh Ban-suk (Kwon Kyung-won 46โ), Kim Min-woo, Koo Ja-cheol (Ju Se-jong 75โ), Jung Woo-young, Lee Jae-sung (Moon Seon-min 80โ), Son Heung-min, Hwang Hee-chan (Lee Seung-woo 80โ).
BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA: Ibrahim Sehic, Darko Todorovic (Ermin Bicakcic 74โ), Toni Sunjic, Ervin Zukanovic, Eldar Civic, Gojko Cimirot (Stjepan Loncar 85โ), Muhamed Besic, Miralem Pjanic (Elvis Saric 57โ), Edin Visca (Deni Milosevic 81โ), Haris Duljevic (Goran Zakaric 67โ), Edin Dzeko (Riad Bajic 60โ).