![Son Heung-min greets fans after South Korea's 3-0 friendly win over Ecuador at Suwon World Cup Stadium on Thursday. [Yonhap]](https://wimg.heraldcorp.com/news/cms/2026/09/25/rcv.YNA.20260924.PYH2026092410270006100_P1.jpg)
Leaving behind the painful memories of the 2026 North and Central America World Cup, South Korean football under interim head coach Robert Moreno changed just one thing on the defensive line — and the results looked nothing like what came before under Hong Myung-bo.
The national team (FIFA ranking: 32nd) beat Ecuador (25th) 3-0 in a friendly at Suwon World Cup Stadium on Thursday. Oh Hyeon-gyu of Besiktas opened the scoring in the 54th minute, Son Heung-min of LAFC added a second in the 58th, and Lee Dong-gyeong of Ulsan sealed it in the 86th. It was a rough match — nine yellow cards were shown in total, four for Korea and five for Ecuador — but Korea kept a clean sheet without facing any serious threat on goal. In the team's first A-match since its disappointing World Cup campaign, what stood out more than the result was the change in how Korea played.
After the final whistle, central defender Kim Min-jae of Bayern Munich smiled and said, "Playing with a back four definitely made things more comfortable for the players. It was fun."
A 4-4-2 in place of the back three — and the spacing came alive
Under former head coach Hong Myung-bo, the national team stuck stubbornly to a back three at the World Cup finals and paid for it. Upon taking charge, Moreno declared that "4-4-2 is the foundation — it is widely used in the K League and effective on the international stage," and spent the entire training camp refining the shape.
Son and Oh formed the strike partnership, with Lee Jae-sung of Mainz and Park Jin-seop of Zhejiang in central midfield. Song Min-gyu of Nacional and Jeong Seung-won of Seoul occupied the flanks. The back four consisted of Jo Hyeon-taek of Ulsan, Kim Min-jae, Lee Han-beom of Club Brugge and Seol Young-woo of Augsburg, with Kim Seung-gyu of Tokyo in goal.
The most visible difference was the spacing between players. From the defensive midfield line all the way to the front, Korea pressed with a compact shape that did not easily break down when possession changed hands. Positional rotations — such as Oh drifting wide while Jeong moved inside — also unsettled Ecuador.
The center-backs' first option: play it forward
The switch to a back four also redefined the center-backs' role. According to Kim Min-jae, Moreno told the center-backs before the match to push forward whenever space opened up. "He asked us to play a lot of forward passes — that was the first option," Kim said. "There was more space than I expected. Han-beom and I were able to exploit it."
That instruction led directly to the opening goal. In the 54th minute, Kim drove forward and played a forward pass to Song Min-gyu, who immediately slipped the ball through to Oh Hyeon-gyu making a run in behind. Oh held off two defenders, drove into the penalty arc and finished with a long-range shot. The goal came from just two passes originating from the defensive line — a clear illustration of Moreno's plan to use the center-backs as the starting point of attacks.
Small halftime adjustments that unlocked the second half
The first half was frustrating. Korea tried to build from the back and probe for gaps, but the combinations were off and the wide attacks lacked sharpness. When caught on the counter, the forwards were slow to track back, leaving the team momentarily outnumbered. Korea managed just one shot on target in the opening 45 minutes.
Moreno made no substitutions and did not overhaul the shape. Instead, he adjusted individual positions. "He told the fullbacks to push a bit higher," Kim said. "In the first half they were sitting too deep." The press trigger line was also moved up. "At halftime we made a few small adjustments — particularly in how we pressed and how we found space in the build-up," Moreno said. "We kept our structure, stayed solid against their attacks, and then the players' quality made the difference."
As momentum shifted, a set piece produced a goal. In the 58th minute, Son scored directly from a free kick on the left side of the penalty area — a kick that Kim Min-jae had encouraged him to take. "The taller players wanted to crowd the box, but I told Heung-min, 'Give it a shot,'" Kim said with a laugh. "I thought the odds were low, but he hit it so well I felt a bit embarrassed." The three second-half goals came via three different routes: a counter-attack, a set piece and a patient build-up.
Seol's turnaround — evidence of a structural shift
The effect of the halftime adjustments showed most clearly on the flanks. Seol Young-woo, who drew heavy criticism at the World Cup, earned praise on Thursday. When a teammate's error created a dangerous moment in the 70th minute, Seol threw his body in front of Juan Angulo's shot to block it. Lee Tae-seok, introduced as a substitute in the second half, also created several good chances down the left.
Under the previous setup, when attacks broke down the ball would circulate aimlessly before landing at a fullback's feet, leaving that player isolated on the flank and prone to mistakes. The problem, observers noted, was less about the individual fullbacks and more about the team's attacking structure. Once the fullbacks were pushed higher and the organized attack came to life, the same players performed markedly better.
One match is not enough to draw conclusions
There are reasons for caution. Ecuador's fading fitness in the second half contributed to Korea's improved performance, and the defensive transition issues exposed in the first half — along with the new combination's need for more time to gel — remain works in progress. Kim Min-jae acknowledged as much. "We haven't had much time together yet. Hyeon-taek was playing with us for the first time, so there were some awkward moments," he said. "It will get better in the next match."
Even so, the willingness to diagnose and fix a failing plan at halftime — and to solve problems through collective movement rather than individual brilliance — was a clear departure from the previous regime. It is the first sign that Korea may be moving away from the football that relied on individual talent rather than team shape.
Moreno has six matches to work with. The national team will face Uruguay, Venezuela and Uzbekistan in succession. Whether the 4-4-2 spacing, the center-back advances and the halftime adjustments hold up against opponents of varying styles will be the real test for Moreno's Korea.
why37@heraldcorp.com
