Anchor: South Korea lost 1-0 against Sweden in its first game of the FIFA World Cup in Russia on Monday. Sweden’s Andreas Granqvist scored a penalty in the second half to condemn the Taeguk Warriors to defeat. 
Our Laurence Taylor has more. 

Report: South Korea began its FIFA World Cup campaign in disappointing style on Monday as it fell to a 1-0 defeat against Sweden.  

Sweden’s Andreas Granqvist scored a penalty in the 65th minute of the match at the Nizhny Novgorod Stadium after Korean defender Kim Min-woo brought down Viktor Claesson in the penalty area.  

Referee Joel Aguilar referred the decision to the video assistant referee, who confirmed that the penalty should be awarded. 

Despite a bright start to the match, Team Korea failed to create many chances, with Sweden looking the most likely to score throughout most of the match.  

Sweden should have opened the scoring in the 20th minute when striker Marcus Berg shot from close range, but South Korean goalkeeper Cho Hyun-woo made a fantastic save to keep the score goalless. 

Berg also saw another shot in the penalty area blocked by Korean defender Kim Young-gwon midway through the first half. 

South Korea head coach Shin Tae-yong was then forced to make a change to his line-up, as defender Park Joo-ho came off injured in the 27th minute and was replaced by Kim Min-woo. 

Early in the second half, Koo Ja-cheol came close to scoring for Korea but his header hit the side netting. 

Korea pushed for an equalizer but failed to score, with Hwang Hee-chan wasting a good chance late on as he headed wide from close range. 

The result marks the first time that South Korea has lost its opening match of the World Cup since 1998.  

South Korea will now prepare for its next game on Saturday against Group F rival Mexico, who beat defending champions Germany 1-0 on Sunday. 
Laurence Taylor, KBS World Radio News.