South Korea’s Taeguk Warriors defeated Uruguay for the first time ever in a friendly match at the World Cup Stadium in Seoul on Friday.
South Korea, led by head coach Paulo Bento, beat the world No. five team by two goals to one, finally putting an end to a winless streak that began in February 1982 when the countries first met in the Nehru Cup in India.
2018 Asian Games top scorer Hwang Ui-jo opened the scoring with a penalty rebound in the sixty-sixth minute. Matias Vecino of Uruguay scored an equalizer six minutes later, but Korea immediately returned fire with Jung Woo-young netting the winning goal in the seventy-ninth minute.
Going into the match, South Korea, 55th in the FIFA ranking for September, had a head-to-head record of one draw and six losses against Uruguay.
Friday’s game was the Taeguk Warriors second victory since Bento took over as coach. The team defeated Costa Rica 2-0 at the start of September and held Chile to a 0-0 draw later that month. The senior squad has yet to lose a game under Bento’s leadership.