Son Heung-Min scored a first-half brace as Tottenham continued their perfect run in pre-season with a 4-3 victory over Team K League in South Korea on Wednesday.

On home soil, the forward scored twice in 10 minutes, with Dejan Kulusevski and Will Lankshear also hitting the target for Ange Postecoglou's side.

Oberdan set the game up for a nervy finish after Stanislav Iljutcenko's double, but they could not find a winner at Seoul World Cup Stadium.

Kulusevski got the ball rolling, latching onto Son's saved effort before picking out the bottom corner to edge Spurs in front before the South Korean delighted the crowd with two clinical finishes.

Second-half substitute Iljutcenko scored two goals in as many minutes shortly after his introduction, though Lankshear stuck out a leg to give Spurs a two-goal cushion with 23 minutes to go.

Oberdan's strike was the pick of the bunch, with a wonderful looping volley from outside the box after Spurs failed to clear a corner, and Brandon Austin had no chance of stopping it from hitting the back of the net. 

Data Debrief: Perfect homecoming for Son

Son certainly made his mark in his 63 minutes on the pitch in Seoul, having the joint-most shots (four), with all of them on target, and his expected goals of 0.56 was only bettered by Lankshear (0.74).

Postecoglou could not have asked for a better pre-season, with Spurs winning all five of their pre-season friendlies so far. With a double-header against Bayern Munich to come before their Premier League opener away at Leicester City, the North London side look to be in good nick.

Son Heung-min will return to Tottenham’s training ground on Thursday after South Korea’s Asian Cup exit.

Son suffered disappointment with his nation on Tuesday after they lost 2-0 to Jordan in the semi-finals.

While the majority of the South Korea squad have returned to their home country along with manager Jurgen Klinsmann, Son headed straight to the UK and will link up with his Spurs team-mates again on Thursday.

It raises the prospect of Tottenham captain Son being available for Saturday’s visit of Brighton.

Spurs have been without Son for four matches over the past month, claiming only one victory during that period without their 12-goal attacker.

Ange Postecoglou could have Yves Bissouma in contention for the clash with Brighton after Mali were knocked out of the Africa Cup of Nations on Saturday, but the midfielder will be assessed after struggling with illness during the tournament.

Jordan reached the Asian Cup final for the first time in their history thanks to a richly deserved 2-0 win over South Korea in Qatar.

Second-half strikes from Yazan Al Naimat and Mousa Al-Taamari ended the hopes of Son Heung-min and his team-mates at Ahmed bin Ali Stadium on Tuesday.

Jordan had dominated from the off, with near misses from Hwang In-beom and Lee Jae-sung – and a penalty that was rightly overturned after a VAR check – all that pre-tournament favourites South Korea mustered. Son did not even have a shot.

Al Naimat and Al-Taamari's quality shone through, and Jordan, who were backed by a vociferous support, will now face Iran or the holders and hosts Qatar in Saturday's final.

Son Heung-min proved the hero as South Korea defeated Australia 2-1 in extra time to progress to the semi-finals of the Asian Cup.

Victory kept alive South Korea's hopes of a third Asian Cup title and a first since 1960, as they teed up a last-four tie with Jordan, who beat Tajikistan 1-0.

South Korea had to do it the hard way at Al Janoub Stadium on Friday, after Craig Goodwin volleyed Australia ahead in the first half.

Hwang Hee-chan’s stoppage-time penalty forced extra time, however, with Son's spectacular free-kick in the 104th minute securing the win, with Aiden O'Neill's VAR-awarded red card then compounding Australia's frustration.

"This isn't really the way we want to win matches but we were ready to battle hard," Son said.

"Winning this way will help with the morale of the whole team. I was really touched by the sacrifices that everyone on the team made. Each and every one of the team deserves to be complimented."

Australia goalscorer Goodwin said: "We were one minute away from going through.

"If we had taken those chances, we could have put the game to bed but Korea is a great team with great players and we gave them some opportunities from set-pieces that we didn't need to. And when they have quality like that with Son, they punished us."

South Korea's victory came after Jordan had snapped the dream run of tournament debutants Tajikistan.

Vahdat Hanonov's own goal midway through the second half proved decisive at Ahmad bin Ali Stadium.

Mousa Tamari had the chance to extend Jordan's lead but the winger shot just wide from inside the area.

Jurgen Klinsmann overcame Roberto Mancini as South Korea advanced to the quarter-finals of the Asian Cup on penalties after a dramatic draw against Saudi Arabia on Tuesday.

South Korea won 4-2 in the shoot-out after the round-of-16 match had ended 1-1 after extra time.

Defeat will be particularly hard for Mancini to take as Saudi Arabia led 1-0 deep into stoppage time at Education City Stadium through Abdullah Radif's 46th-minute strike.

Cho Gue-sung levelled the game in the 99th minute to send it into an additional period, then South Korea goalkeeper Jo Hyeon-woo was the hero in the shoot-out when saving penalties from Sami Al Naji and Abdulrahman Ghareeb.

Hwang Hee-chan converted the winner from the spot to send his country through to the last eight and a match against Australia on Friday.

Uzbekistan are also into the quarter-finals after beating Thailand 2-1, setting up a clash with hosts and defending champions Qatar.

Azizbek Turgunboev put Uzbekistan ahead in the 37th minute, controlling Diyor Kholmatov's diagonal pass on his chest and volleying low past Patiwat Khammai.

Thailand equalised through Supachok Sarachat's curling effort from outside the box 13 minutes after half-time, but it took just seven more minutes for Uzbekistan to regain the lead with what proved to be the decisive goal from Abbosbek Fayzullayev, who struck from distance to beat Khammai.

South Korea have avoided a round-of-16 clash with pre-Asian Cup favourites Japan after drawing 3-3 with Malaysia on Thursday.

Jurgen Klinsmann's team advanced as the runners-up in Group E after conceding in the 15th-minute of added time at Al Janoub Stadium.

Romel Morales struck late to level the group game and ensure Bahrain - who won 1-0 against third-placed Jordan - advanced as the group winners to face Japan. 

Despite losing, Jordan advanced as one of the best third-placed teams and will take on Iraq next.

South Korea were another of the pre-tournament favourites, but, like Japan, have had their setbacks in the group stage and progressed with one win and two draws.

A Son Heung-min penalty four minutes into injury time gave his team a 3-2 lead against Malaysia that would have sealed first place.

But Morales secured Malaysia's only point of the tournament by firing into the bottom corner from outside the area.

South Korea led through Jeong Woo-yeong's header in the 21st minute. Faisal Halim levelled six minutes after half-time and Malaysia had the chance to go ahead after Seol Young-woo fouled Arif Aiman in the box. Aiman stepped up and converted from the penalty spot.

South Korea equalised in the 83rd minute thanks to an own goal by Syihan Hazmi before the dramatic conclusion.

Klinsmann may be grateful to avoid Japan for now, even as the four-time champions had their own problems and finished runners-up in Group D behind Iraq.

Bahrain lost their opening game to South Korea but advanced to the knockout stage at the top of Group E after back-to-back 1-0 wins. It was Abdulla Yusuf Helal who struck in the 34th at Khalifa International Stadium to beat Jordan.

The last two matches of the group stage came in Group F, with both contests finishing as draws.

Saudi Arabia topped the group after drawing 0-0 with Thailand, who progressed as runners-up, while a 1-1 draw between Oman and Kyrgyzstan in the other game means both teams are eliminated.

South Korea versus Saudi Arabia looks like a standout last-16 fixture, with that contest due to take place on January 30.

Japan will play Bahrain a day later, while some of the other key contests include Iran meeting Syria and hosts Qatar going up against Indonesia.

The knockout stage starts on January 28 as Australia take on Indonesia.

Despite going ahead after an early strike by Son Heung-min, South Korea needed a last-minute own goal to salvage a 2-2 draw with Jordan at the Asian Cup.

Yazan Al-Arab's late intervention at the Al Thumama Stadium prevented a second surprise result in the space of 24 hours after Iraq had stunned tournament favourites Japan.

The draw leaves both South Korea, led by former United States coach Jurgen Klinsmann, and Jordan with four points from the first two games in Group E.

"It was a very, very intense game, which we expected," Klinsmann said. 

"After we got the lead, we were too slow. We were not physical enough. We lost one-on-one battles on the field, and that gave them a lot of energy."

Klinsmann, who won the 1990 World Cup with West Germany, was more satisfied with the second-half fightback.

He added: "We were in control. We created enough chances to win this game. Still, a tie is fine at the end of the day."

South Korea, two-time champions but searching for a first title since 1960, started well. After just five minutes, Son was fouled in the area by Ehsan Haddad. After a four-minute long VAR check, the Tottenham captain scored from the spot.

Jordan levelled after 37 minutes as Park Yong-woo headed a corner into his own net. Six minutes into first-half stoppage time, Jordan took the lead on Yazan Al-Naimat's goal.

But South Korea's pressure paid off in the first minute of second-half stoppage time. Son pulled the ball back in the area for Hwang In-beom and the low shot from the Red Star Belgrade midfielder was turned into his own goal by Al Arab.

Also in Group E, Bahrain beat Malaysia 1-0 to go third with three points. Ali Madan scored the only goal of the game in the fifth minute of second-half stoppage time to leave Malaysia pointless.

The top two from each of the six groups advance to the round of 16, where they are joined by the four best-performing third-place teams.

The entertaining Saturday play came after two low-scoring affairs rounded out the action on Friday.

Indonesia moved level with Japan in the Group D standings after beating Vietnam 1-0.

The deadlock was broken after 42 minutes when Nguyen Thanh Binh pulled Rafael Struick's shirt in the area. Captain Asnawi Mangkualam fired home the penalty to give Indonesia a chance of a place in the knockout stage for the first time.

Vietnam, who have lost both of their games, were reduced to 10 men late in the game after Le Pham Thanh Long's second yellow card.

In Group C, Iran defeated Hong Kong 1-0 to secure a place in the round of 16. Mehdi Ghayedi scored with more than an hour left.

The win put three-time champions Iran on top, two points ahead of the United Arab Emirates. The teams meet on Tuesday.

Hong Kong stayed bottom with successive defeats and are a point behind their final group opponents Palestine.

Lee Kang-in's individual brilliance inspired South Korea to a 3-1 victory over Bahrain in the Asian Cup on Monday.

Used to being overshadowed by Kylian Mbappe at club level and Son Heung-min on the international stage, Paris Saint-Germain's Lee took centre stage at Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium.

While Son missed a golden chance late on and was also booked for diving, Lee scored two picture-perfect goals to get South Korea off to a winning start in the competition the country has not won since claiming back-to-back titles in 1956 and 1960.

Not that he was comfortable with the spotlight.

"I would just like to say and highlight that it is not about individual performance. It's not just about my two goals. All the goals we score are very important for the team," he said after the Group E match.

His coach Jurgen Klinsmann was also restrained in his praise.

"If you score two in the opening game of the Asian Cup for us you deserve to be man of match and [it was] a very good performance. But I have to keep him on the ground every day," he said with a smile.

The game was tied at 1-1 when Lee took control, giving South Korea a 2-1 lead in the 56th minute with a left-footed shot from around 30 yards.

He was equally clinical as he scored his second goal 12 minutes later when showing sharp footwork and curling the ball into the bottom corner.

Hwang In-beom had given South Korea a first-half lead, but Bahrain equalised six minutes after the break through Abdullah Al Hashash.

Jordan sit top of Group E on goal difference after a 4-0 win over Malaysia.

Mahmoud Al Mardi and Mousa Tamari scored two goals each in the match at Al Janoub Stadium.

Jordan raced to a 3-0 half-time lead, with Al Mardi on target twice and Tamari scoring from the spot. The latter, who also had a goal disallowed by VAR, doubled his tally in the 85th minute.

In Group D, Iraq moved level with Japan on three points thanks to a 3-1 defeat of Indonesia.

Goals from Mohanad Ali, Osama Rashid and Aymen Hussein secured victory at Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium, while Marselino Ferdinan netted for Indonesia, who are making their first appearance in an Asian Cup in 16 years.

Rob Page believes Wales are heading into their crunch Euro 2024 qualifier in Latvia with renewed confidence after holding South Korea to a Cardiff draw.

Wales have now won only once in 13 games, but Page accentuated the positives after a goalless stalemate against opponents who reached the last 16 of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

“There’s lots of positives and we take that momentum and confidence into a tough game on Monday,” Page said after Wales had returned to action following damaging Euro 2024 qualifying defeats by Armenia and Turkey in June.

“JJ (Jordan James) has had a very good debut and he’s had that experience under his belt against a world-class team.

“It’s building confidence ahead of Monday and getting rid of the disappointment of June’s camp.

“They’ve reacted in a positive way. We’ve had meetings through the week regards to the defenders and the goals we’ve conceded.

“We’ve kept a clean sheet against a technically good team with one of the best strikers (Son Heung-min) in world football, and at the end we could have won it 1-0 with Kieffer’s header.”

Substitute Kieffer Moore almost broke the deadlock after 66 minutes when his header came back off a post.

Skipper Aaron Ramsey, who has just entered the action on the hour, was unable to prod home the rebound from a yard out.

Brennan Johnson played the first 45 minutes after completing a £47.5million move from Nottingham Forest to Tottenham on deadline day as Page selected a far stronger side than most had expected before their Latvia test in Riga.

Page said: “There’s been lots said since the last camp. Everybody’s entitled to their opinion. It’s not a problem.

“I know what I’ve got in the changing room and the staff room. It’s about winning games of football, I get that. The transition we’re in, we’ve lost some world-class players.

“You would have seen the reaction of the players. I’m really pleased with them.

“I’m proud of how we defended. That was back to our identity.

“That’s the level of performance we reached in March, away against Croatia and at home against Latvia.

“We didn’t meet those standards in June and that’s what disappointed me the most, but we were back to those standards here.”

Jurgen Klinsmann was appointed as South Korea head coach in February and has failed to win any of his five games in charge – drawing three and losing two.

“It was a very good test for us and I am pleased with what the players showed,” said Klinsmann, the former Germany and United States boss.

“Wales had a back five that was very difficult to break. As a team we want to see development, we want to see them grow and every game helps us.

“This is the moment in these friendly games to try these things out, you can see that the team has changed since my first game in March.”

Wales warmed up for their crucial Euro 2024 qualifier in Latvia with a goalless stalemate against South Korea in Cardiff.

Substitute Kieffer Moore went the closest to breaking the deadlock by heading Chris Mepham’s second-half cross against a post.

But Wales failed to secure a morale-boosting victory that under-pressure manager Rob Page craved, and it is now only one win in 13 games either side of a disappointing World Cup for the Dragons.

Page had admitted a first-ever meeting with South Korea was a fixture he could have done without as it came four days before the vital Euros qualifier in Riga.

That comment upset many Wales supporters who had paid for tickets, but many chose to stay away as the Cardiff City Stadium was less than half full with the attendance given as 13,668.

The outcome in Riga will shape the rest of Wales’ Euro campaign – and possibly even Page’s future – with Wales running out of time to make up for June defeats by Armenia and Turkey in the race for automatic qualification.

With Euro group rivals playing on Friday, UEFA regulations stipulated that Wales had to fulfil this date on the international calendar with a friendly.

Page suggested he was not going to risks with his team selection ahead of Latvia and captain Aaron Ramsey sat on the bench for the opening hour.

But Page fielded a stronger line-up than many expected with Brennan Johnson starting just days after his £47.5million move from Nottingham Forest to Tottenham.

Ipswich’s Nathan Broadhead made his first Wales start alongside Johnson in attack. Birmingham midfielder Jordan James also made his maiden start in a three-man midfield.

Tottenham captain Son Heung-min was the star turn for South Korea with Bayern Munich defender Kim Min-jae also sprinkling stardust on the visitors.

South Korea reached the last 16 at the 2022 World Cup but new boss Jurgen Klinsmann is still waiting for a victory since his February appointment, with three draws and two defeats now on his report card.

Wales began brightly and were unfortunate not to take a 13th-minute lead.

Ethan Ampadu and Broadhead combined to find Wilson who, under pressure from Seol Young-woo, forced a smart save from Kim Seung-gyu.

There was a scare for Wales when Ben Davies, skipper for the night in Ramsey’s absence, was unceremoniously chopped down by Lee Jae-sung.

Kim Min-jae, the 6ft 3in centre-half known as ‘The Monster’ also sent Johnson sprawling to the ground with a blow to the ribs and was grateful that Scottish referee Willie Collum was in a lenient mood.

South Korea enjoyed nearly 60 per cent possession on a night when the sultry conditions saw cooling breaks taken midway through each half.

But that did not translate into danger around the home goal until the closing moments of the first period.

Lee Ki-je’s brilliant cross just evaded Hong Hyun-seok at the far before Son forced Danny Ward to hold his 25-yard attempt under the crossbar.

Wilson had another effort saved before Wales introduced Joe Morrell and Moore – both suspended for the Latvia qualifier – for Ampadu and Johnson at half-time.

The worry for Wales was that Son was starting to roam and dictate matters, the Spurs striker driving over from 20 yards before Hwang In-beom was similarly off target.

But Wales came within inches of taking the lead after 66 minutes.

Mepham crossed to Moore who headed against the post with Ramsey, who had only recently joined the action, unable to turn the ball home.

Broadhead saw his 20-yard attempt deflected wide and Joe Rodon rose well at the resulting a corner but his hopes of a first Wales goal were ended by a full-length Kim save.

Moore headed over with the game’s final touch, but there were more players going down with cramp than chances created in the closing minutes as a rather predictable draw was played out.

Two-time champions Germany have crashed out of the Women’s World Cup after drawing 1-1 with South Korea in their final Group H match in Brisbane.

Cho So-hyun had put South Korea in front in the sixth minute before Germany captain Alexandra Popp equalised with a 42nd-minute header.

But Martina Voss-Tecklenburg’s world number two side were unable to add to that, with Popp going closest with a header against the crossbar on the hour mark.

And with Morocco beating Colombia 1-0 in the pool’s other game, leaving them both with six points, the Germans, on four, were condemned to third place and failed to make the knockout rounds of the competition for the first time in their history.

The 2003 and 2007 World Cup winners, who started their campaign at this edition by thrashing Morocco 6-0 before a shock 2-1 loss to Colombia, become the third top-10 ranked team to be eliminated at the group stage, after Canada and Brazil.

South Korea, managed by Englishman Colin Bell, also bow out with this having been the first point of their campaign.

There was an early warning for Germany when 16-year-old Casey Phair – who became the competition’s youngest ever player in the group’s opening round of matches – hit a shot in the third minute that Merle Frohms did well to turn against a post.

Three minutes later, another attack from Bell’s team saw them grab the lead as Lee Young-ju played a fine through-ball and Cho slotted past Frohms.

Klara Buhl sent two efforts off-target soon after, but Germany struggled to threaten much beyond that until Popp drew things level just before the break, connecting with Svenja Huth’s cross for her fourth goal of the tournament, moving level with Japan’s Hinata Miyazawa as top-scorer.

Popp thought she had headed her side in front in the 57th minute, only for the effort to be ruled out for offside, and a few moments on from that she sent another header against the bar.

Frohms was then called upon to push away a Ji So-yun corner, before Popp headed at Kim as Germany’s frustration continued.

A lengthy period of added time at the end, which included a stoppage when Cho was injured and carried off on stretcher, and lasted more than 15 minutes, included Germany substitute Sydney Lohmann putting strikes wide and over as Tecklenburg’s side tried in vain to rescue themselves from making unwanted history.

Tom Kim provided a strong indication of what was to come as records continued to tumble in the 123rd US Open at Los Angeles Country Club.

Kim equalled the tournament record when he raced to the turn in just 29 shots on Saturday, the 20-year-old from South Korea making birdies on the first, third, fourth, sixth, eighth and ninth.

Another birdie on the 10th took Kim to seven under for the day and four off the lead, but the back nine continued to provide a stiffer test and Kim dropped three shots in the space of four holes before eventually signing for a 66.

One of Kim’s dropped shots came at the par-three 15th, which had become the shortest hole in modern US Open history at just 80 yards.

The previous shortest hole in the US Open was the famous seventh at Pebble Beach – 92 yards in the final round in 2010 – but anyone expecting a fourth hole-in-one of the week on the 15th could be disappointed.

Two-time major winner Thomas wrote on Twitter: “Fifteen is interesting…guys playing early have a chance to hold that section I think. But this afternoon (dominantly downwind), I don’t see a ball holding at it.

“Watch for many guys to one hop it over the back. I think the play is to hit a big cut spinner off that middle slope.

“With how fast the greens will play, it has a chance to get down within 5-10 feet. Will be a spicy one for sure!”

Thomas missed the cut on Friday after rounds of 73 and 81 left him 152nd in the 156-man field and admitted his performance was “humiliating and embarrassing”.

“I was playing the best I’ve played in a really long time this week, so (it’s a) funny game, man,” Thomas told the Golf Channel.

“It can leave you speechless, both good and bad, and right now it’s unfortunate. But once I’m able to reflect and figure out what I can learn and get better from, it’ll end up good. But it sucks right now.”

Thomas won his second US PGA Championship 13 months ago at Southern Hills, but has not tasted victory since and the former world number one has slipped to 16th in the rankings.

“I’ll figure it out,” he added. “I have another major left (this season).

“If I go win the British Open, nobody even remembers that I’ve missed the cut by a zillion here, so I’ve just got to find a way to get better and learn from this and if I can, I don’t have to look at this week as a total failure.”

Next month’s Open Championship will be staged at Royal Liverpool and Rory McIlroy revealed watching the highlights of his victory there in 2014 had influenced his approach this week.

“For whatever reason I went on to YouTube a few weeks ago and was looking back at Hoylake 2014 and I could not believe how many irons and three woods I was hitting off the tee and it set something off in my mind,” said McIlroy, who headed into the third round two shots behind leader Rickie Fowler.

“You know how to do this, you know how to play smart. You don’t have to take driver all the time – yes it’s a big weapon but I feel like I have more weapons in my arsenal than I did then so I may as well use them.”

Asked how much he wanted to win another major after a drought of almost nine years, McIlroy added: “I started thinking about winning this thing on Monday and no one wants me to win another major more than I do.

“The desire is obviously there. I’ve been trying and I’ve come close over the past nine years and I keep coming back.

“I feel like I’ve showed a lot of resilience in my career, whether I get rewarded or punched in the gut, I’ll always keep coming back.”

Coincidentally, Fowler was joint second behind McIlroy at Hoylake in a year in which he finished in the top five in all four majors, and was also third behind McIlroy in the following month’s US PGA.

Wales will play South Korea at home in a September friendly.

It will be the first time the two nations have met at senior men’s level and will take place at Cardiff City Stadium on September 7, four days before Wales’ Euro 2024 qualifier in Latvia.

South Korea, who are captained by Tottenham forward Son Heung-min, reached the last 16 of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Former Germany and United States boss Jurgen Klinsmann was appointed South Korea head coach in February.

“Many teams are tied up in Europe with qualifiers and it’s not always easy to get strong opposition during the few occasions we get the chance to play friendlies,” said Noel Mooney, chief executive of the Football Association of Wales.

“So to have the likes of Son Heung-min – Ben Davies’ teammate at Spurs – and many other high quality players coming to Cardiff is great for us.

“They had a really good World Cup getting to the knockout stage and it’s important we keep testing ourselves against different styles of football.

“South Korea offers us a really interesting chance to do that, and I’m sure we’ll have another great crowd to cheer on Cymru before the ‘Red Wall’ head for Riga a few days later.”

Wales plan to play an October friendly against Gibraltar at Wrexham’s Racecourse Ground.

A March 2019 friendly against Trinidad and Tobago is the only time Wales men’s senior team have played at the Racecourse – the world’s oldest international football stadium that still hosts matches – over the last 15 years.

Wales manager Rob Page announces his squad on Tuesday for next month’s Euro 2024 qualifiers against Armenia and Turkey having taken four points from their opening two games in March.

Liverpool forward Darwin Nunez has pulled out of Uruguay's squad for their upcoming friendlies.

The 23-year-old had been included in Uruguay's squad for the games against Japan and South Korea on March 24 and 28 respectively.

However, the Uruguayan Football Association and Liverpool both announced on Friday that Nunez will not be linking up with his international team-mates.

According to reports from Uruguay, the former Benfica man is recovering from an ankle injury sustained in Wednesday's 1-0 loss at Real Madrid.

Nunez has 14 goals and four assists in 33 appearances in his first campaign at Anfield – only Mohamed Salah (33) has been directly involved in more goals among Liverpool players.

Uruguay have called up Club America forward Jonathan Rodriguez as Nunez's replacement.

Paulo Bento has thanked South Korea's players for providing him with "one of the most beautiful experiences" of his life in their run to the knockout stage of Qatar 2022.

South Korea pulled off a late 2-1 win over Portugal in their final group game to reach the last 16, where they were heavily beaten 4-1 by Brazil.

Bento, appointed in 2018 as Shin Tae-yong's successor, announced immediately after that match he would not be renewing his contract with South Korea.

The Portuguese coach said a final farewell to supporters on Tuesday before flying back to his homeland.

"I am thankful to all the players, due to their professionalism, work ethic and their behaviour," Bento said.

"They gave me the opportunity to have one of the most beautiful experiences of my life, which I will never forget.

"Personally I have no words to thank you all for the respect, affection and support you showed during this amazing experience."

South Korea also drew 0-0 with Uruguay and lost 3-2 to Ghana in Group H, with their win over Portugal enough to see them through on goals scored.

It was the first time since 2010 that the Asian nation had made it past the first hurdle, though they were outclassed by Brazil in a one-sided last-16 tie.

The Taegeuk Warriors intend to name Bento's successor by February ahead of the next international break the following month.