Syria 0 South Korea 0: Alma frustrates Stielike's men

South Korea had to settle for a goalless draw in Tuesday’s AFC World Cup qualifier versus Syria on neutral ground in Malaysia.

Uli Stielike's men beat China 3-2 in their Group A opener, whereas Syria started the final round-robin stage of AFC qualification with a 1-0 defeat to Uzbekistan last week.

South Korea were high on confidence and enjoyed the majority of possession, with Syria happy to sit back and defend, but only created a few chances of note.

Syria failed to trouble their opponents on the counter-attack as both sides dropped two precious points in the bid to reach the 2018 finals in Russia.

South Korea made a fine start to the game and could have gone a goal up after just 12 minutes when Koo Ja-cheol popped up in a dangerous position after a clever throughball, only for Syria goalkeeper Ibrahim Alma to deny the midfielder with a fine save.

Moayad Al Ajan's opportunistic free kick from 30 yards out shortly before the break represented Syria's biggest opportunity, though shot stopper Kim Seung-gyu was not worried by the strike.

The visitors continued to dominate after the break and were unfortunate not to break the deadlock through Lee Chung-yong in the 57th minute. Yong Lee did well to reach the Crystal Palace winger with a low cross after a good run down the right, but Alma pulled off a superb save to push his attempt wide for a corner.

Stielike's men pressed hard for the winner in the closing stages of the game, but their efforts were to no avail as it ended all square in Seremban.

Thank you for reading 5 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access

Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription

Join now for unlimited access

Try first month for just £1 / $1 / €1