Jürgen Klinsmann’s first win in charge of the South Korean men’s national soccer team in six games was a hard-fought victory that was marred by shaky defense and poor finishing.

Klinsmann’s men earned a 1-0 victory over Saudi Arabia in an exhibition A match at St. James’ Park in Newcastle, England, on Wednesday.

South Korea started with the duo of Cho Kyu-sung and Son Heung-min, along with Hwang Hee-chan, Lee Jae-sung, Hwang In-beom, Park Yong-woo, Lee Ki-je, Kim Min-jae, Jung Seung-hyun, Seol Young-woo, and goalkeeper Kim Seung-gyu.

In the early stages of the match, the Saudis pressed hard up front and disrupted Korea’s buildup, but the Koreans overcame this and opened the scoring in the fourth minute when Cho Kyu-sung fired home a pass following a breakaway by Son Heung-min.

In the sixth minute, South Korea came close to conceding a goal when defender Jung Seung-hyun’s ball to goalkeeper Kim Seung-kyu was intercepted by an opposing striker, but Kim saved the ball from Al Dosari’s feet.

After Lee Ki-jae’s shot from a free-kick opportunity in the ninth minute went narrowly wide of the goal, South Korea recorded their first shot on target three minutes later when Son Heung-min’s left-footed mid-range shot went straight at the Saudi goalkeeper.

From there, South Korea continued to attack the opponent’s goal with bold shots from Son Heung-min and took the lead in the 32nd minute when they capitalized on a mistake by the Saudi defense. Lee Jae-sung’s ball from the right side of the penalty box bounced off the back of the defense and into the path of Cho Kyu-sung, who headed it into the back of the net to rattle the Saudi net.

With the score at 1-0, South Korea continued to threaten the Saudi goal in the second half with backward passes from Kim Min-jae and flanking runs from Hwang Hee-chan. In the 10th minute of the second half, Hwang Hee-chan dribbled into the penalty box and fired a shot that was narrowly saved by the goalkeeper.

Klinsmann took off Cho Kyu-sung and Hwang Hee-chan after the midway point of the second half and brought on Hwang Eui-jo and Moon Sun-min, and in the final minutes of the match, he brought on Son Heung-min and Hwang In-beom, as well as Lee Sun-min and Oh Hyun-gyu, to continue to push forward, but a goal was not forthcoming.온라인바카라

In the second half of the match, South Korea’s physicality and concentration deteriorated, allowing the Saudis to take the initiative and threaten, but Kim Min-jae’s physical defense was enough to hold on for a 1-0 victory.