Football
ESPN staff 9y

South Korea win as Japan and Iran draw in international friendlies

South Korea won a friendly on Tuesday while Iran and Japan played to a draw as some of Asia's biggest teams had the day off from World Cup qualifying.

South Korea eased to a 3-0 win over Jamaica.

Ji Dong-won opened the scoring in the 35th minute with a header following a corner kick.

Ki Sung-yueng's penalty gave South Korea a 2-0 lead in the second half, and Hwang Ui-jo put the game out of reach.

Iran held Japan to a 1-1 draw in Tehran.

Mehdi Torabi scored for the hosts just before half-time, pouncing on a rebound after Ashkan Dejagah's penalty was saved by Shusaku Nishikawa. 

But Japan were level again three minutes after the break when Iran goalkeeper Alireza Haghighi spilled a cross and the ball went in off Yoshinori Muto.

The United States followed up their defeat to Mexico in a Confederations Cup playoff with a 1-0 loss to Costa Rica in New Jersey to increase the pressure on U.S. coach Jurgen Klinsmann.

Joel Campbell scored his first international goal since the World Cup, and an experimental U.S. squad offered little in response.

Mexico sent interim manager Ricardo "Tuca" Ferretti out on a high after defeating Panama 1-0 at the Estadio Nemesio Diez.

Real Sociedad forward Carlos Vela netted the only goal of the game on the stroke of halftime, before going close to doubling the host's lead with a left-footed shot in the 55th minute.

Canada held Ghana to a 1-1 draw in Washington, D.C. Marcel De Jong's opener was cancelled out by Albert Adomah's goal for Ghana just before half-time.

Yacine Brahimi cut inside in the 80th minute to give Algeria a 1-0 win over Senegal in Algiers.

Thievy Bifouma scored twice to lift Congo to a 2-1 win over Benin in Brazzaville.

In San Pedro Sula, Erick Andino cancelled out Erick Mathoho's early strike to help hosts Honduras draw 1-1 with South Africa.

Guatemala defeated El Salvador 4-2 on penalties after their friendly match ended 1-1.

^ Back to Top ^