This was a match that spent an hour pretending it was a chess tutorial, all passes sideways and nobody willing to make the first mistake. As theatre it was a slow burn, the kind where you keep checking whether the candle is still lit.

Then minute 63 arrived and Thapelo Maseko remembered that football has a point, planting the only goal of the night and turning a stalemate into a story. Suddenly the cautious build-up looked like patience instead of fear.

South Korea kept knocking afterward but never found the key, and the closing stretch had genuine tension without ever boiling over. No red cards, no VAR circus, just a tight, nervy 1-0 that rewarded the side brave enough to actually shoot.