Gi-hyuk Lee

Part of crucial mistake at Mexico

Lee logged four clearances, two tackles (two won) and one block during South Korea's 1-0 loss Thursday at Mexico.

Analysis: After seeing success against the Czech Republic, South Korea's team went with the same center-backs again. Even though Lee is their trio's only domestic-league player, unlike Kim Min-Jae (Bayern Munich) and Han-Beom Lee (Midtjylland), it was the K-League veteran who was more statistically active than his fellow CBs. For the Koreans, only he and two others (the aforementioned Kim and Lee Jae-Sung) won multiple tackles against Mexico. The defender Lee logged Korea's most clearances and lone block, backing up a relatively inexperienced defense. Yet, the game result was defined by his and goalkeeper Kim Seung-gyu's miscommunication moment, which resulted in Mexico's goal. Kim jumped for a ball in the air, and colliding with Lee caused an untimely fumble right to goalscorer Luis Romo. How the Koreans will respond is unknown, but going into their group-stage finale Wednesday against South Korea, Lee has their most clearances and interceptions, with 12 and three respectively.