Team Moreno Defeats Ecuador 3-0 in Debut Match... Oh Hyun-gyu, Son Heung-min, and Lee Dong-gyeong Score

The South Korean national football team, making a fresh start under "Team Moreno," secured a dominant 3-0 victory over Ecuador with consecutive goals from Oh Hyun-gyu (Beşiktaş), Son Heung-min (LAFC), and Lee Dong-gyeong (Ulsan).

Led by interim head coach Robert Moreno, the South Korean national team claimed a 3-0 win after scoring all three goals in the second half during today's friendly match against Ecuador at the Suwon World Cup Stadium.

After suffering a devastating group-stage exit at the 2026 FIFA World Cup in North and Central America, the national team laid the groundwork for a rebound by securing a refreshing victory in the debut match of the new head coach, who was appointed on September 1.

With this goal, which marks his 57th for the national team, Son Heung-min is now just one goal away from tying former national team manager Cha Bum-kun's record of 58 goals, the most by a South Korean player in A-matches.

Starting with the Ecuador match, this series of four consecutive A-matches serves as the starting line for South Korean football to prepare for the 2027 Asian Cup this winter and the World Cup four years from now.

The national team will play its second friendly match against Uruguay at the Seoul World Cup Stadium at 8 PM on September 28.

South Korea improved its all-time head-to-head record against Ecuador to two wins and one loss.

In the FIFA rankings, Ecuador sits at 25th, seven spots higher than South Korea (32nd).

Coach Moreno took charge of his debut match using his preferred 4-4-2 formation.

He increased the frontline's weight by positioning Son Heung-min and Oh Hyun-gyu at the forefront.

Song Min-kyu (Nacional) and Jung Seung-won (Seoul) were deployed on the left and right wings, while Lee Jae-sung (Mainz) and Park Jin-seop (Zhejiang) anchored the midfield.

The back four defensive line consisted of, from left to right, Cho Hyun-taek (Ulsan), Kim Min-jae (Bayern Munich), Lee Han-beom (Club Brugge), and Seol Young-woo (Augsburg), while Kim Seung-gyu (Tokyo) put on the goalkeeper gloves.

The match was fiercely contested, with four yellow cards given to Ecuador and two to South Korea in the first half alone.

Over the full 90 minutes, Ecuador received five yellow cards and South Korea four.

South Korea aggressively pushed into the opponent's territory from the opening whistle, but the first shot came from Ecuador.

Kim Min-jae's attempted clearance fell directly to Pedro Vite just outside the penalty box, whose left-footed shot missed wide to the right of the goal.

South Korea seized its first scoring opportunity around the 10th minute of the first half when Son Heung-min won a free kick right in front of the penalty arc.

However, Son's shot hit the defensive wall and bounced out.

Son's left-footed shot from the front of the penalty arc in the 22nd minute of the first half also missed to the left of the goal.

With both teams locked in a fierce midfield battle failing to create clear-cut scoring chances, Ecuador missed a golden opportunity in the 30th minute of the first half when Nilson Angulo delivered a cutback to Kenny Arroyo, whose left-footed shot sailed over the crossbar.

In the 9th minute of a tight second half, Oh Hyun-gyu stepped up as the solver.

Receiving a forward pass from Song Min-kyu during a counterattack, Oh unleashed a surprise right-footed shot from the front of the penalty arc, which deflected off an opponent's body and found the back of the net.

His two-top partner Son Heung-min immediately responded with an additional goal.

Son curled a fantastic direct right-footed free kick from a tight angle on the left side of the penalty area, sending the ball along a trajectory the goalkeeper could not reach into the far corner of the net.

Earlier, Oh Hyun-gyu had successfully drawn a foul while protecting the ball between two defenders.

Scoring his 57th goal for the national team, Son Heung-min is now just one goal shy of Cha Bum-kun's record of 58 goals for the most A-match goals by a South Korean.

Ecuador did not back down easily.

In the 25th minute of the second half, Juan Riquelme Angulo fired a shot from the right that deflected off Seol Young-woo's body, but goalkeeper Kim Seung-gyu dove to block it before it crossed the goal line.

In the 20th minute of the second half, Hwang Hee-chan (Schalke), Kim Tae-hyun (Kashima Antlers), Kim Bong-soo (Daejeon), and Lee Tae-seok (Austria Vienna) entered the pitch, replacing Park Jin-seop, Cho Hyun-taek, Jung Seung-won, and Lee Han-beom.

In the 30th minute of the second half, Cho Wi-je (Jeonbuk), Kim Min-su (Rangers), and Oh Se-hun (Shimizu) were substituted for Kim Min-jae, Song Min-kyu, and Oh Hyun-gyu.

In the 40th minute of the second half, Son Heung-min was substituted off, and Lee Dong-gyeong stepped onto the field.

Just one minute after coming on, Lee Dong-gyeong received a forward pass from Kim Bong-soo and scored with a left-footed shot to seal the victory.

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.