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Korea brush aside Scotland

PUSAN, South Korea, (Reuters) -- South Korea crushed Scotland 4-1 in a friendly on Thursday to increase expectations of a successful World Cup for the tournament co-hosts.

In a game they controlled throughout, Korea would not have been flattered by a more emphatic scoreline as, apart from a late consolation goal, Scotland, who have not qualified for the finals, caused few problems.

The Koreans took the lead in the 15th minute when a long ball from Yoo Sang-chul exposed Everton central defender David Weir one-on-one against Lee Chun-soo.

The 20-year-old, who has been pushing for a place in coach Guus Hiddink's World Cup starting team, did his chances no harm as he controlled the ball on his chest and kept his composure to turn away from Weir and goalkeeper Neil Sullivan before slotting home.

A withering spell of pressure left the visitors fortunate to reach half-time only a goal down, as the passing and movement of Park Ji-sung, Lee Young-pyo and Hwang Sun-hong caused havoc.

"We got a little bit showy in the last 10 or 12 minutes of the first half, which I didn't like," Hiddink admitted. "When you have an opponent on the ropes, you have to finish him off. We allowed them to regroup at times, and weren't as efficient as we should have been."

This was remedied in devastating fashion after the break. Hwang, a veteran of the 1990 and 1994 World Cups and back for the first time following a dislocated shoulder, was withdrawn in favour of Ahn Jung-hwan.

The in-form Perugia forward doubled Korea's advantage in the 57th minute, drifting across the Scottish defence before cutting back and firing a 20-metre drive past Sullivan.

The Scottish keeper could do nothing about Korea's third goal 10 minutes later, as another of Hiddink's substitutes came up trumps.

Yoon Jung-hwan, ironically in direct competition with Ahn Jung-hwan for a place in the starting line-up, had been on the field less than two minutes when Ahn put the ball into his path 25 metres out. Without hesitation, Yoon hit a fiercely swerving shot that left Sullivan grasping at thin air.

Scotland grabbed a consolation when, 16 minutes from time, Scott Dobie headed Scot Gemmill's free-kick past Kim Byung-ji, but the home side struck back three minutes from time with the best goal of the night.

Another substitute, Choi Tai-uk, started the move, Ahn Jung-hwan stepped over a pass and continued into the area, running onto Yoon Jung-hwan's return and hitting an inch-perfect chip over Sullivan and under the crossbar.

Scotland's German coach Berti Vogts was impressed with the Koreans. "They played brilliant football," he said. "They are a much better side than the one I faced with Germany in the 1994 World Cup."

Korea's World Cup preparations continue with a friendly against England in Sogwipo on May 21 followed by a meeting with world champions France in Suwon five days later.

The co-hosts' opening game of the tournament is against Poland on June 4 in Pusan.

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