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On Tuesday, the favorite South Korea team won the victory in the first Group G match, defeating the African representatives Togo 2-1. The goals for the winners were scored by Chun-Soo Lee and Ahn Jung-hwan.
Commerzbank Arena, Frankfurt, 48,000 spectators. Referee: Graham Poll (England). South Korea 2 - 1 Togo 31‘ [0 - 1] Mohamed Kader Abdel 54‘ [1 - 1] Lee Chun-Soo 72‘ [2 - 1] Ahn Jung Hwan
South Korea: Woon-Jae Lee, Young-Chul Kim, Choi, Jin-Kyu Kim (Ahn Jung Hwan 45), Young-Pyo Lee, Song, Ji-Sung Park, Eul-Yong Lee (Nam-Il Kim 68), Ho Lee, Chun-Soo Lee, Jae-Jin Cho (Sang-Sik Kim 83).
Togo: Agassa, Nibombe, Tchangai, Assemoassa (Forson 62), Abalo, Salifou (Aziawonou 86), Cherif-Toure, Romao, Senaya (Toure 56), Mohamed, Adebayor.
The match started with both teams attempting to break each other's defense. However, the Koreans gradually started to attack the Togo national team more aggressively.
It was the Togolese who first had the chance to turn the result in their favor, but unfortunately a shot by M.K. Abdel after a corner was successfully blocked by Korean goalkeeper Lee Woon-Jae.
After this attempt, the Koreans intensified their pressure on the African representatives, but all their attempts to break the opponents' defense were unsuccessful. Soon, the same M.K. Abdel received a pass and in the 31st minute of the match, directed the ball towards Lee Woon-Jae's goal, and the shot hit its target, with the Africans breaking into the lead.
As the first half was coming to an end, the "Red Devils" still had chances to equalize the score, but their earned penalty kicks were not effective.
In the second half, in the 47th minute of the match, Ji-Sung Park found some space and burst into the penalty area, shooting towards the goal, but his shot flew wide over the crossbar.
Just a few minutes later, the same J.S. Park started attacking the opponents at high speed, but soon he was brought down by Togo defender Jean-Paul Abalo, who received a second yellow card and had to leave the field.
A penalty kick was awarded to the Koreans, which was successfully converted by Lee Chun-Soo, with his shot flying far over the goal line straight into the net, leveling the score.
After this goal, the Asian representatives did not relax and continued to try to break their opponents, and their efforts paid off in the 73rd minute of the second half when Ahn Jung Hwan, who replaced Jin-Kyu Kim, managed to score a goal after a successful shot, leaving Togo goalkeeper Agassa with no choice but to retrieve the ball from his goal, the Koreans took the lead 2-1.
As the match was coming to an end, the Togolese tried to equalize the score, but unfortunately, all their attempts were unsuccessful, and the South Korean national team won their first victory in this World Cup, climbing to the top spot in the Group G standings with three points.
