Robert Moreno has had four games: 3-0 against Ecuador, 1-4 against Uruguay, 0-0 against Venezuela and 2-0 against Uzbekistan. We logged every shot of the first three, estimated the xG ourselves, and animated how his Korea want to play and where Uruguay broke them.
Updated 12 Oct 2026 · after the Uzbekistan friendly (6 Oct), before the November window
| 24 Sep | FR | vs EcuadorMoreno's first game; all three goals after half-time | 3–0 | 0.900.32 |
| 28 Sep | FR | vs Uruguay3–0 down at half-time; the second half finished 1–1 | 1–4 | 1.150.92 |
| 2 Oct | FR | vs VenezuelaOne shot in the first half; Venezuela hit the post in the second | 0–0 | 0.720.59 |
| 6 Oct | FR | vs UzbekistanSon's record 59th goal from a free kick (6'); Oh Se-hun header (60') | 2–0 | no xG |
Where he started. Korea went out of the World Cup in the group stage, playing a back three, and Hong Myung-bo resigned. The KFA named Robert Moreno interim coach on 1 September for six friendlies, with a contract to 27 November and the option of staying for the Asian Cup if the results come.
Who he is. Moreno was Luis Enrique's assistant at Roma, Celta and Barcelona. He then coached Spain for nine unbeaten games in 2019, before Luis Enrique returned and publicly called him disloyal. Club jobs at Monaco, Granada and Sochi were mixed. He describes his football as brave: keep the ball aggressively, and when you lose it, press at once to win it back.
What he changed. He switched to a 4-4-2 at once, choosing it because it has been the K League's most-used system for two years. He picked on form, screening data on about 1,700 players, weighting their last ten matches, and taking 12 K League players among 30. In possession the shape moves: one striker holds, the other roams, and Lee Kang-in drifts inside so the right-back supplies the width (Kyunghyang).
No data provider published xG for these friendlies, so we built our own. We logged every shot from Sky Sports', Fox Sports' and ESPN's minute-by-minute data and Korean match reports: 63 shots in total, matching FotMob's shot and on-target counts for both teams in all three games. Each shot then got a value from its location, body part and situation.
| 2' | Korea | Jung Seung-won | 0.03 | Off target or blocked |
| 5' | Ecuador | Vite | 0.03 | Off target or blocked |
| 11' | Korea | Son Heung-min free kick | 0.06 | Off target or blocked |
| 20' | Ecuador | Franco | 0.03 | Off target or blocked |
| 22' | Korea | Son Heung-min | 0.03 | Off target or blocked |
| 29' | Ecuador | Arroyo | 0.03 | Off target or blocked |
| 45+1' | Korea | Kim Min-jae header, free kick | 0.10 | On target |
| 54' | Korea | Oh Hyeon-gyu deflected | 0.04 | Goal |
| 58' | Korea | Son Heung-min free kick | 0.03 | Goal |
| 59' | Ecuador | Yeboah | 0.03 | On target |
| 60' | Ecuador | Caicedo header, corner | 0.08 | Off target or blocked |
| 70' | Ecuador | J. Angulo tight angle | 0.04 | On target |
| 73' | Ecuador | Estupiñán | 0.02 | Off target or blocked |
| 73' | Ecuador | Mercado | 0.02 | Off target or blocked |
| 81' | Ecuador | J. Angulo | 0.03 | On target |
| 83' | Korea | Oh Se-hun fast break | 0.08 | Off target or blocked |
| 84' | Ecuador | Minda | 0.01 | Off target or blocked |
| 86' | Korea | Lee Dong-gyeong through ball | 0.30 | Goal |
| 90' | Korea | Oh Se-hun | 0.12 | On target |
| 90+1' | Korea | Lee Jae-sung | 0.03 | Off target or blocked |
| 90+2' | Korea | Kim Tae-hyeon header, set piece | 0.08 | Off target or blocked |
Uruguay's third goal (43') was a Kim Min-jae own goal from Varela's cross, so it isn't a shot and carries no xG.
| 3' | Uruguay | Piquerez | 0.04 | Off target or blocked |
| 7' | Uruguay | B. Rodríguez | 0.03 | Off target or blocked |
| 12' | Korea | Lee Kang-in | 0.03 | Off target or blocked |
| 13' | Korea | Lee Han-beom header | 0.08 | Off target or blocked |
| 13' | Uruguay | Núñez one-on-one | 0.35 | Goal |
| 26' | Uruguay | R. Araujo | 0.02 | Off target or blocked |
| 27' | Uruguay | De Arrascaeta | 0.05 | Goal |
| 31' | Korea | Son Heung-min | 0.03 | Off target or blocked |
| 48' | Korea | Kim Min-su | 0.03 | On target |
| 49' | Korea | Oh Hyeon-gyu | 0.07 | On target |
| 50' | Korea | Oh Hyeon-gyu | 0.07 | On target |
| 51' | Korea | Lee Kang-in | 0.03 | Off target or blocked |
| 55' | Korea | Oh Hyeon-gyu one-on-one | 0.35 | On target |
| 58' | Korea | Kim Min-su | 0.02 | Off target or blocked |
| 61' | Uruguay | M. Araújo header | 0.10 | Off target or blocked |
| 62' | Uruguay | Núñez header, unmarked | 0.20 | Goal |
| 65' | Uruguay | De Arrascaeta | 0.01 | Off target or blocked |
| 65' | Uruguay | M. Araújo | 0.12 | On target |
| 68' | Korea | Oh Hyeon-gyu | 0.03 | On target |
| 72' | Korea | Son Heung-min corner | 0.10 | Off target or blocked |
| 78' | Korea | Son Heung-min | 0.03 | Off target or blocked |
| 80' | Korea | Son Heung-min cross from Lee Kang-in | 0.25 | Goal |
| 85' | Korea | Lee Kang-in | 0.03 | On target |
Shot locations for this game come from ESPN's play-by-play, so they are more precise than in the first two. Our model trained on 4,352 league shots scores this game the other way round (Korea 0.59, Venezuela 0.72): either way, an even game with few clear chances.
| 11' | Venezuela | Cásseres | 0.03 | On target |
| 23' | Venezuela | Mendoza direct free kick | 0.03 | Off target or blocked |
| 37' | Venezuela | J. Ramírez header from a set piece | 0.09 | Off target or blocked |
| 45' | Korea | Cho Hyun-taek close range, left of the six-yard box | 0.25 | On target |
| 48' | Venezuela | Cásseres | 0.02 | Off target or blocked |
| 50' | Venezuela | Herrera | 0.03 | Off target or blocked |
| 51' | Korea | Son Heung-min low cross from Oh Hyeon-gyu | 0.25 | On target |
| 53' | Korea | Cho Hyun-taek | 0.03 | Off target or blocked |
| 57' | Venezuela | Cásseres | 0.03 | Off target or blocked |
| 59' | Venezuela | J. Ramírez header from Herrera's cross | 0.09 | On target |
| 59' | Venezuela | Kelsy | 0.12 | Off target or blocked |
| 62' | Korea | Lee Kang-in | 0.03 | Off target or blocked |
| 65' | Venezuela | Mendoza | 0.05 | On target |
| 71' | Venezuela | Cádiz | 0.02 | Off target or blocked |
| 72' | Venezuela | Mendoza | 0.05 | Off target or blocked |
| 72' | Venezuela | Quintero | 0.03 | On target |
| 79' | Korea | Son Heung-min | 0.06 | Off target or blocked |
| 81' | Korea | Lee Kang-in right side of the box, tight angle | 0.07 | Off target or blocked |
| 90+3' | Korea | Lee Dong-gyeong | 0.03 | On target |
With the ball. The back four and a holding midfielder build through the middle, with at least two passing options for the man on the ball (JoongAng Daily). Lee Kang-in comes inside from the right, turning the 4-4-2 into something close to a 4-2-3-1, and Seol Young-woo overlaps outside him. Oh Hyeon-gyu stays high while Son drops or drifts to link play.
Without it. The two strikers start the press and the team tries to win the ball back straight away. Against Ecuador the first half was flat: 0.22 xG from four shots, and only one on target. Moreno said he adjusted “the pressing method and the build-up” at half-time. The team then took seven shots worth 0.68 xG and scored three.
How sure is this? The in-possession roles come mainly from one analysis (Kyunghyang) and the build-up principles from another (JoongAng Daily). Nobody reported exactly what changed in the press at half-time. The animation shows the intended pattern, not a specific move.
The plan. Moreno pushed both full-backs high to pin Uruguay's wingers back and make it easier to build through the middle. That left Kim Bong-soo and Lee Jae-sung alone against three central midfielders. Uruguay cut out the passes into them and broke into the space the full-backs had left. The first goal came from a turnover in the middle, the second from space between Korea's lines, and the third from Varela's run down Korea's left.
The first-half numbers. Korea managed three shots worth 0.14 xG, none on target. Uruguay had 0.49 xG from five shots and scored three times, one of them an own goal that was never a shot at all. Moreno: “We found the problem, but unfortunately a bit late.”
The fix. Four changes at half-time (Kim Min-jae, Hwang Hee-chan, Lee Tae-seok and Kim Bong-soo off) and more players behind the ball. Korea then took 11 shots worth 1.01 xG, with Oh Hyeon-gyu's one-on-one at 55' the best chance (0.35), and drew the half 1-1. The problem was found; the question is whether the starting plan changes.
Three against Ecuador, the opener that showed Uruguay's plan, and Son's record-equalling 58th. The scoring team attacks up the page.
Goal animations are reconstructed from match reports and broadcast descriptions; positions are approximate. The scoring team attacks up the page.
Moreno's roaming striker: he drops and drifts while Oh holds the line. Man of the match against Ecuador (FotMob 8.0), scored the free kick, and reached 58 goals against Uruguay (the KFA credited him, though Son said he didn't think he touched it). His 6th-minute free kick against Uzbekistan made it 59, a Korea men's record.
The one who holds the line. Scored against Ecuador and took six shots against Uruguay, including the one-on-one at 55' that was the best chance of the night: 0.35 of our estimated xG.
Rested against Ecuador. Against Uruguay he started on the right, came inside as planned, and made the goal. Moreno wants “what he does at his club” and calls using him elsewhere “rash and reckless”.
Steadied the midfield when he came on against Ecuador (Football-Asian) and played the pass for Lee Dong-gyeong's goal. Starting against Uruguay, he was the man Uruguay's three midfielders targeted, and came off at half-time.
Missed both games for fitness reasons, but is expected to be available in October. Kyunghyang: apart from him, no midfielder in the squad can play that role. He is the most likely fix for the two-against-three problem.
The middle. Two central midfielders against three is the textbook problem of a 4-4-2. When the two strikers press, the midfield empties behind them, and the build-up turns into a U-shape of sideways passes (Kyunghyang).
The flanks. With both full-backs high and two attacking wide players who didn't track back in the first half against Uruguay (Daum column), Korea were left one-on-one out wide.
The slow starts. The first two games were fixed at half-time. Korea's first-half xG was 0.22 and 0.14; their second-half xG was 0.68 and 1.01. Against Venezuela it was 0.25 from a single shot before the break, then 0.47 after it. A coach who reads the game well is a plus. A starting plan that needs rescuing twice is not. Against Venezuela, with a reshuffled XI and Hwang In-beom back, Korea did not get their first shot until the 45th minute and had one touch in the opposition box before half-time (SPOTV). Oh Hyeon-gyu's goal from a corner in first-half stoppage time was ruled out for a foul on the goalkeeper. The second half was better but still goalless: Son was denied after Oh's low cross early on, and Venezuela had a goal ruled out for offside and hit the post with a deflected shot (Seoul Economic Daily, Star News).
Korea beat Uzbekistan 2-0 in Yongin on 6 October. Son's low free kick in the 6th minute was his 59th goal, making him Korea's all-time men's top scorer, and Oh Se-hun headed in Song Min-kyu's cross on the hour. Moreno kept the 4-4-2, with Oh Se-hun next to Son instead of Oh Hyeon-gyu; Hwang In-beom and Song Min-kyu replaced Lee Kang-in and Lee Jae-sung at half-time. Next come two away friendlies in the Middle East in November (opponents not yet announced as of 12 October). They complete Moreno's six-game interim spell; his contract runs to 27 November, and the KFA will then decide whether he leads Korea at the Asian Cup. No decision had been announced by 12 October. The Asian Cup in Saudi Arabia starts on 7 January 2027; Korea are in Group E with the UAE, Vietnam and Yemen.
What did you make of it? Short takes from readers.
Facts cross-checked in at least two sources where possible. The shot log follows Sky Sports and Fox Sports minute-by-minute data and Korean match reports, and matches FotMob's shot counts. Tactical detail comes mainly from Kyunghyang, JoongAng Daily and Hankook Ilbo and is flagged where it rests on one source.