South Korea manager Hong Myung-bo has revealed that he is happy with the performance of his players despite his team suffering a 2-1 defeat against Russia in a friendly match. This defeat means that South Korea have managed just four wins since July of this year.

This run of matches will undoubtedly put a lot of pressure on Hong Myung-bo, but he is staying confident. The match started in the best possible fashion for Korea after they took the lead in the sixth minute through Shin-Wook Kim.

Russia, however, demonstrated the kind of quality that has seen them automatically qualify for the World Cup 2014 despite being in a very tough group, by coming back with a lot of strength. They did not take long to equalise after Smolov scored in the 12th minute. The winner, though, took a little longer to come about, but it finally came in the second half through Tarasov. Hong Myung-bo has been the coach of South Korea since June and during this period they have managed just three victories, which will undoubtedly ask questions about his quality.

Korea finished second in the qualifying group – two points behind Iran after their defeat to the table leaders in the final group match. They are not expected to be a force at the World Cup.

"I am satisfied with the team's current style of play. The most important thing is that the players have learned how to take control of a game," said the manager after the match. Hong has revealed that the last 10 matches have helped him know his starting 11, which will come good in Brazil 2014. Scoring goals has been a major problem for South Korea, but Hong believes that they will be able to find their feet after playing a few matches together.