Russia 4-2 Korea Republic
Russia and Korea Republic started their World Cup preparations with a hard-fought match at Moscow, and it couldn’t be any more entertaining as the game ended with six goals, including two own-goals from the visitors.
International friendly football games don’t often feature exciting live betting clashes, but with hopes of getting a confidence booster for next year’s festivities, the two nations provided inspired performances.
Unfortunately for the Koreans, betting odds on their chances of winning the game dwindled when their defender, Kim Ju-young, inadvertently scored two own goals in two minutes in the second half.
That second-half fiasco pretty much ended the night for South Korea even before Russia’s Aleksei Miranchuk came off the bench to round off the scoring seven minutes from time.
Kwon Kyung-won headed past keeper Igor Akinfeev in the closing stages while Ji Dong-won pulled another in the dying seconds to get a further consolation for South Korea. However, it was too little too late.
The visitors from Asia undoubtedly played better in the first half, but Russia had the better chances as they even threatened to score early a couple of times. And although it took them long, the Russians got the game going when Fyodor Smolov broke the deadlock at the stroke of halftime.
South Korea can take the defeat in stride considering it’s just a friendly. Though, they would need to improve on their offence if they want to win back the hearts of their fans.
For Russia, this performance is a good way to bounce back following their disappointing performance in the Confederations Cup last June. They played with more authority and were noticeably sharper as the match wore on, and it should be beneficial when they host the biggest football tournament of all next year.
Next up for Russia is another friendly against Iran next week, while Korea travel to Switzerland to play Morocco.
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