South Korea will close its October A-match warm-up series against Uzbekistan on October 6, with Son Heung-min one goal away from standing alone at the top of the Korean men’s A-match scoring chart. The match starts at 8 p.m. and arrives after a month that has already swung from promise to warning for Robert Moreno’s side.
For readers following South Korea Vs Uzbekistan, the pull is obvious: Son scored his 58th A-match goal against Uruguay and tied Cha Bum-keun’s mark for the most goals in Korean soccer. If he scores again, he reaches 59 and breaks the tie outright. That gives the final game of the series a sharper edge than a routine friendly, especially with South Korea’s national soccer team now trying to finish the month with both goals and balance.
The results under Moreno explain why. South Korea opened with a 3-0 victory over Ecuador, when Oh Hyun-kyu, Son Heung-min and Lee Dong-kyung scored in succession. It then lost 1-4 to Uruguay after giving up three first-half goals before drawing 0-0 with Venezuela, a match that showed better defensive stability but no finish in attack. The record under the interim coach stands at one win, one draw and one loss, which is why the closing test against Uzbekistan matters beyond the scoreline.
That tension sits in the matchup itself. South Korea wants proof that it can control a game at one end and still threaten at the other, yet the Uruguay defeat exposed how quickly the structure can break when pressure arrives early. Uzbekistan brings a different challenge, with Fabio Cannavaro leading the bench, and his name alone adds weight: he won the Ballon d'Or and was a center back on Italy's 2006 World Cup-winning team in Germany. South Korea does not need a spectacle; it needs a clean answer to whether the progress from Ecuador and Venezuela can survive a stronger, more complete opponent.
There is also a practical layer to the night. Sports Toto began selling tickets for the friendly match between Korea and Uzbekistan on the morning of October 5, underscoring how quickly interest has shifted toward Son’s record chase and the team’s final chance to settle the month. If Son scores, the story becomes history. If he does not, South Korea still leaves October with a clearer picture of how far Moreno’s team has to go before it can claim it has found the right balance.
