Son Heung-Min then scored and assisted a 2-0 friendly victory over the United States in Sports Illustrated Stadium.
Playing in their first match since their Concacaf Gold Cup Final League against Mexico, the US was struggling to match their opponents.
Sebastian Berhalter and Lee Dong-Gyeong both saw an early chance saved each, before Son found a breakthrough in the 18th minute.
The Lafc forward ran at the back to lock to the delivery of Lee Jae-Sung and shot his shot in the right corner from a tight corner on the left, where Matt Freese could not defend his nearby pole.
The US was unable to mount a fightback in the first half, and Lee Dong-Gyeong doubled the lead of South Korea in the 43rd minute and sent a nice backheel film over the line after Freese was attracted to son.
The side of Mauricio Pochettino increased the pressure in the second half, but forced Jo Hyeon-Woo to take action only in the 73rd minute when he told Chris Richards’ instinctive effort.
Freese made a brilliant late save to keep the header of Oh Hyeon-Gyu out, but Jo made sure he would walk away with a clean slate, making a stunning double save to keep Folarin Balogun out, who then hit the bar with his third chance quickly in succession.
Turning the page to Tuesday in Columbus.#USMNT X Haleon pic.twitter.com/joujbjx09q
– US Soccer Men’s National Team (@USMNT) September 6, 2025
Data Debrief: Son Stars in Stellar first half performance
Pochettino is well familiar with son from their time together in Tottenham, and the South Korea captain made it a difficult day for the US.
He only became the third player in the last decade to take a goal and an assist in the first half of a match against the stars and stripes, together with Lionel Messi and Johan Manzambi.
The US certainly had their chances of getting away with confidence; They generated 2,23 expected goals (XG) of their 17 attempts, while South Korea had 0.74 xg of five shots, scored with half of their efforts on goal.
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