Marcelo Gallardo’s first night in charge of Ecuador ended in a heavy friendly defeat in Suwon, where South Korea found all three of their goals after the interval to win 3-0 on Thursday.
The new Ecuador coach, the former Monaco midfielder, faced another ex-ASM figure on the opposite bench. Robert Moreno, once Monaco’s manager, oversaw a South Korean side eager to reset after its group-stage exit at the last World Cup.
Quick facts
- South Korea beat Ecuador 3-0 in a friendly in Suwon on Thursday.
- It was Marcelo Gallardo’s first match as Ecuador head coach.
- Robert Moreno, formerly Monaco coach, led South Korea.
- Hyeon-Gyu Oh, Heung-Min Son and Dong-Gyeong Lee scored after half-time.
- Paris defender Willian Pacho captained Ecuador.
- Moises Caicedo and Piero Hincapie were absent from the Ecuador squad.
The match remained scoreless through the opening half, but the hosts broke Ecuador’s resistance nine minutes after the restart. Hyeon-Gyu Oh opened the scoring in the 54th minute.
South Korea’s captain Heung-Min Son quickly doubled the advantage four minutes later, leaving Gallardo’s side with a steep climb in his first fixture. Dong-Gyeong Lee completed the result in the 86th minute.
Willian Pacho wore Ecuador’s captain’s armband in the absence of Chelsea midfielder Moises Caicedo, who was unavailable for the camp. Arsenal defender Piero Hincapie was also missing from the squad.
For Gallardo, the Suwon defeat is an early setback rather than a verdict, but the first page of his Ecuador tenure was written under South Korean floodlights and finished with a three-goal margin.
