Bento convinced S. Korea moving in 'right direction'

BRISBANE, Australia, Nov. 20 (Yonhap) -- Following his team's impressive 4-0 victory over Uzbekistan in a men's friendly football match Tuesday, South Korea head coach Paulo Bento said he believes the Taeguk Warriors are moving in "the right direction."

Four different players got on the score sheet for South Korea at Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre (QSAC) in Nathan, a suburb of Brisbane, Australia. Nam Tae-hee and Hwang Ui-jo gave South Korea a 2-0 lead at halftime, and Moon Seon-min and Suk Hyun-jun added a goal apiece to round out the scoring.

Bento has yet to lose in his six matches on the South Korean bench, having accumulated three wins and three draws. That's the longest undefeated start by a South Korea boss, surpassing the five-game run by Jo Bonfrere in 2004.

"Overall, we dominated the match today," Bento said. "Even with a 2-0 lead after the first half, we didn't lose our focus in the second half, and that led to a good result."

In particular, Bento commended his players for sticking to the game plan amid a slew of substitutions.

"I think we're going in the right direction," the coach said. "We still have room for improvement, but I believe we're on the right path. I want to make sure all the players understand where the national team is trying to go."

Bento shrugged off his record-setting undefeated streak and said, "This only means we're getting closer to a loss."

Bento succeeded Shin Tae-yong in August on the heels of South Korea's group stage exit from the FIFA World Cup in Russia. The former Portugal boss was tasked with righting the ship in time for the country's next big tournament, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup in January 2019 in the United Arab Emirates.

And Bento has passed his early tests with flying colors.

South Korea defeated Costa Rica 2-0 in Bento's debut on Sept. 7 and then held Chile, their first tough foe, to a scoreless draw four days later.

For those two contests, Bento made few changes from the World Cup squad, 17 of the 24 players having been in Russia for the big tournament.

In October, Bento started leaving more of his own fingerprints on the team, calling up players who had been missing from the national team picture for a few years and also bringing international rookies into the mix.

The new-look South Korea upset world No. 5 Uruguay, their first top-10 ranked opponent, 2-1 on Oct. 12 and ended their winless record against the South Americans -- they'd won none of the previous seven matches. On Oct. 16, South Korea managed a 2-2 draw with Panama to remain undefeated on Bento's watch.

These four matches were at home, and the team played before sellout crowds in every one of them.

For the Australian road trip, Bento didn't have the services of some mainstays. Tottenham Hotspur attacker Son Heung-min was left off as part of a deal between the Korea Football Association (KFA) and the Premier League club. In exchange for releasing Son for the Asian Games in the summer, Spurs asked that Son be left out for November matches so he could remain with the club.

Lee Jae-sung, a playmaking midfielder, wasn't picked as he was recovering from an injury, while forward Hwang Hee-chan and defender Kim Moon-hwan were dropped after their call-ups, also because of injuries. Defender Jang Hyun-soo was slapped with a lifetime ban from the national team for doctoring his community service records after receiving a military service exemption.

Despite these issues, South Korea closed out the year with a 1-1 draw versus Australia on Saturday and a 4-0 victory over Uzbekistan on Tuesday.

With the Asian Cup fast approaching, Bento said he'll continue to keep an eye on players based in South Korea and Japan until the last minute before finalizing his roster.

"The primary objective is to stick to our philosophy and style of play," Bento said. "I'll try to adjust our plans based on opponents without changing our principles."

jeeho@yna.co.kr
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