S Korean football team draws 2-2 in friendly with Bahrain

S Korean football team draws 2-2 in friendly with Bahrain

SEOUL, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's national football team marked another draw of 2-2 in a friendly with Bahrain in Dubai on late Wednesday after drawing with Syria on Sunday.

Bahrain, who stands 89th in the FIFA rankings, made the first goal with a penalty in the second half, soon to be caught up with South Korean striker Kim Jung-woo's goal. In the final minutes, both teams scored again to end the game in a 2-2 tie.

"We scored two goals, it's a good point. And our performance in the first half was satisfactory," South Korean coach Huh Jung-moo said after the game. "We gave them too many decisive chances as we made mistakes in defense and lost focus. We must not repeat this against Iran."

Kim, who scored South Korea's first goal against Bahrain, said his team "improved a lot from the previous game against Syria. We will show a better performance against Iran."

The South Korean football team, 42nd rank in the FIFA standings, had a week-long training session in the United Arab Emirates, which included two friendlies with Syria and Bahrain. The disappointing match against Bahrain follows a 1-1 draw in a friendly with Syria on Sunday.

The South Korean squad will head to Tehran on Thursday for the Asian qualifier against Iran, which is held next week.

The team is expected to make an improvement in the upcoming match as the nation's star players, such as Park Ji-sung and Lee Young-pyo, join them from European clubs.