Hyunjun Yang had an afternoon to forget for South Korea against Ivory coast.
The Celtic winger made his first international appearance since last June in the international friendly at Stadium MK in Milton-Keynes.
Keen to make an impression off the bench, things took a turn for the worse for Yang and his teammates who eventually ran out 4-0 losers.
To make matters worse, the 23-year-old made a critical error which led to their opponents’ third goal, leading to some heavy criticism.
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Hyunjun Yang’s mistake leads to Martial Godo goal vs South Korea
With the score already at 2-0, the ball was cleared in the direction of Yang, who was facing his own goal in a crowded box.
He made the dangerous decision to head the ball towards his own goal, being punished when Evan Guessand pounced with a first-time shot, from which Martial Godo.
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K League journalist Ross Davis, covering the game on X, wrote: “Absolute idiotic header from Yang Hyun-jun there, 3-0.
“Hong Myung-bo (South Korea boss) mentioned these friendlies needing to boost confidence but it’s definitely gonna have the opposite effect now.”
The damning final score of 4-0 meant the heaviest defeat for the Reds in almost a decade, since a 6-1 loss to Spain in 2016.
Ex-Celtic striker Hyeongyu Oh – now excelling at Besiktas – was in South Korea’s starting line-up on the day, missing a good chance in the first half before being taken off at the break.
Commentators in Asia have pointed to the fact that Ivory Coast have missed the last two World Cups as a point of criticism of the result, though they will be at this summer’s tournament.
South Korea will be in Group A alongside Mexico, South Africa and the winner of Tuesday’s play-off final between Czechia and Denmark.
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South Korea manager on Celtic’s Hyunjun Yang
Speaking ahead of the game, national boss Hong had spoken highly of the Celtic winger, who is behind only Benjamin Nygren in the Hoops’ scoring charts this season.
His international manager said: “Hyunjun Yang has shown levels of consistent performances this season for Celtic.
“I can say he is performing much better than the last time he was with the squad. He is an ideal player to use here as we experiment with tactical flexibility.
“I have not finalised the World Cup squad yet. I will select the players with the best performance and physical condition right before the Finals.”
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