South Korea stun Swiss 2-1 in Seoul friendly

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea delivered a dominant second half performance to fight back from a goal down and beat Switzerland 2-1 in a friendly in Seoul on Friday, Lee Chung-yong heading the winner with five minutes remaining.

(Reuters)

The hosts trailed 1-0 at halftime after Pajtim Kasami's left foot strike put the Swiss ahead in the seventh minute.

However, the Koreans turned the tables in the second half and defender Hong Jeong-ho equalised with a powerful downward header just before the hour mark.

The previous encounter between the two sides came at the 2006 World Cup where a 2-0 win for the Swiss knocked the Koreans out of the tournament.

The victory over the Swiss, who are ranked seventh in the world and went through their 2014 World Cup qualifying campaign unbeaten, will be a huge boost to Korean coach Hong Myung-bo.

Former skipper Hong took over in June after Choi Kang-hee stepped down following an uninspiring 2014 qualifying campaign that saw the Koreans grab an automatic berth by the skin of their teeth.

South Korea, ranked 56th in the world, will next fly to Dubai for another friendly against Russia on Tuesday.

(Reporting by Peter Rutherford; Editing by Justin Palmer)