South Korea player ratings as super keeper Cho Hyun-woo gets a 9 in stunner against Germany

Chris Bailey 21:31 27/06/2018
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  • Football is a simple game. Twenty-two men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end … the Germans no longer always win.

    Former England striker Gary Lineker was forced to amend his famous quote after a match that shook the World Cup, which has already seen a fair share of spills and thrills, to its very core.

    South Korea were already eliminated. Yet, a team oozing quality from its pores in the likes of Marco Reus, Mesut Ozil, and Toni Kroos were left befuddled and joined their Far East opponents out of the competition in a 2-0 defeat that will go down as one of the biggest-ever upsets in international football.

    Check out our Germany ratings below on a disastrous evening for the reigning champions:

    SOUTH KOREA (4-2-3-1)

    Cho Hyun-woo – Everyone knows who Hyun-woo is now. A commander of the penalty area and saved six shots – the best from Goretzka’s header. Deserves a chance outside Korea. 9

    Lee Yong – Hard to remember any cross arriving in the South Korean box from the right flank. Also whipped in a devilish cross that had to be snuffed out. 8

    Yun Young-sun – Less auspicious compared to his partner in central defence but intercepted almost everything that came his way. 7

    Kim Young-gwon – Monitored the box like a school prefect including one tremendous block that denied Werner. Then became a celebrity with that goal. 9

    Hong Chul – Not the smoothest of defensive players, dealt with most of what he was thrown if a little clumsily. 6

    Lee Jae-sung –  Not overly protective with the ball but completed four dribbles and won four headers. Another key contributor. 7

    Jang Hyun-soo – Kept it simple when he had a rare sight of the ball and blocked three shots as Germany peppered the goal late on. 6

    Jung Woo-young – Korea didn’t miss captain Ki Sung-yueng for one moment with Kim leading the charge in both defence and attack. 8

    Moon Seon-min – Big part of Korea’s heightened adventure after the break. Made a mess of a superb chance – why didn’t he shoot? 7

    Koo Ja-cheol – The only ineffective Korean in the starting XI. Chased a few lost causes, generally lost otherwise. 5

    Son Heung-Min – Generally a livewire on what he was fed – from scraps to silver service as game wore on. Fittingly he put the nail in Germany’s coffin. 8

    SUBSTITUTES

    Ju Se-Yong –  Made just five passes after entering the field of play in the 69th minute. He need have bothered with just the one that released Son to wrap it up. 7

    Hwang Hee-chan – Perhaps the only peeved South Korean? Lasted 23 minutes before yanked off and did next to nothing in that time. 4

    Ko Yo-han – The right-back solely had a defensive brief when he replaced the fleeting Hwang, solid enough. 6

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