K-League All Stars 3-3 Juventus
The K-League All Stars were able to hold down the fort in front of thousands of fans in the Seoul World Cup Stadium last night for the International Friendly.
It has been a while since a high-profile friendly like this happened in the same stadium, but fans were in for a treat nonetheless.
Some diehards were left a bit disappointed since Juventus star forward Cristiano Ronaldo sat this one out. However, some of the best International Friendly 2019 highlights were in full display here in this match.
It was a perfect time for Korean stars to show what they got and for Juventus manager Maurizio Sarri to experiment lineups especially with Ronaldo arguably approaching his decline.
Today, SBOBET reviews on what happened in the highly-anticipated matchup.
Highlights of the game
The scoring floodgates started to open at the seventh minute when Osmar launched a beautiful leftie long-range strike in a counter attack by the K-League All Stars.
Two minutes later, Juventus drew level at one apiece courtesy of a goal from Simone Muratore after a nifty pass from one of their forwards.
Overall, Muratore was the main catalyst for I Bianconeri’s attack as he would operate mostly from the midfield looking for his other teammates for possible chances. He was a bright spot for the Maurizio Sarri-mentored club, showing great awareness and skill strengthening Juventus’ International Friendly 2019 odds in winning this game.
The Korean stars had four shots on target but couldn’t convert. Through their persistence, Cesinha finished nicely at the middle of the pitch to take the lead at the half, 2-1. The Brazilian even performed a celebration similar to Ronaldo’s.
Opening the second half, Adam Taggart chipped in the team’s third goal after a nifty volley. The K-League All Stars looked to be in firm control of the match.
The stars in red kept on pushing the pace as they tried to pile on, but to no avail with shots off target.
In the last 20 minutes, however, the Serie A squad suddenly woke up and became more aggressive on their attacks. Their midfielder let out a wonderful cross — leading to a Juventus score in the 77th minute courtesy of Matuidi – who must’ve felt a sigh of relief after converting the header.
After a missed header attempt by Juventus, Bernardeschi attempted a long-range strike only to be thwarted by the fast reflexes of the opposing goalkeeper.
Matheus Pereira churned in the equaliser for Juventus and it was a spectacular move – going between the legs on his defender before getting one past the outstretched arms of Bumkeun.
Bernardeschi tried his luck one more time in the 85th minute, but the ball went outside despite some fancy ball handling.
It’s puzzling as to why Juventus were struggling to find its form the whole game, even if Maurizio Sarri fielded out a relatively strong starting 11 with the likes of Matthijs de Ligt, Miralem Pjanic, and Gonzalo Higuain. De Ligt, Rugani, Cancelo looked shaky for the most part in the first half, opening opportunities for the K-League All Stars.
It was then Sarri decided to bring in some new pieces in the succeeding half, and they changed the game. Blaise Matuidi and Matheus Pereira showed hustle and energy – both which were missing the first half.
As for the K-League All Stars, the combination of Osmar and Cesinha did the trick, while star goal keeper Jo Hyeon-Woo was successful as well.
Overall, the game was an exhilarating sight to behold for football fans – even without Cristiano Ronaldo playing.
Key statistics
Juventus’ recent trip to Seoul marks their third pre-season friendly in Asia. I Bianconceri earlier faced Tottenham in a 3-2 loss, while they were held to a draw against Inter Milan, 1-1, few days later.
Before the actual match, a reported agreement with Juventus ensured that Ronaldo’s participation is expected to bring in 67,000 fans. While that number was reached most likely, they were left disappointed when the Portuguese star decided to take the night off.
Ronaldo’s last visit to Korea was way back in 2007, when he played in an exhibition match with Manchester United.
What’s next?
Maurizio Sarri will have his work cut out for him as he will focus on fine-tuning his team. Juventus will fly back to Italy and they are working towards facing Atletico Madrid on August 10.
Jo Hyeon-Woo has been rumoured to be transferring over to the Bundesliga – with reports saying that he is “close” to moving to FSV Mainz 05. The K-League veteran has already made 173 domestic appearances for Daegu FC. Whether his pending transfer is true or not remains to be seen.
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