BOGOTA, Colombia, Aug 3, (AP): France defeated South Korea 3-1 on Tuesday after late goals from Gueida Fofana and Alexandre Lacazette, leaving both teams precariously poised in the group stage at the Under-20 World Cup.
Fofana scored in the 81st to break a 1-1 deadlock and Lacazette closed out the scoring in stoppage time.
Gilles Sunu gave France the lead in the 27th before Kim Young-uk equalized in the 59th with a free kick.
The victory may have saved France’s tournament after their opening 4-1 loss to Colombia.
“After the first match we really felt down,” Lacazette said. “But our friends and family told us to forget it and look forward to the next match.”
Both France and South Korea have three points in Group A after two matches, with four points usually needed to make the knockout round.
France coach Francis Smerecki was taken aback when a local reporter asked him if his team deserved to win the game.

“We earned it,” he said. “Just like Colombia deserved winning the first game.”
France opened the scoring when Sunu drilled in Timothee Kolodziejczak’s header from a corner. Kim’s 20-meter (yard) free kick high into the corner beat France keeper Jonathan Ligali to make it 1-1 with a half hour remaining.
Fofana’s shot with nine minutes remaining deflected off Kim Jin-su’s head and past South Korean goalkeeper Yang Han-been.
“I think after we went behind 2-1 we lost some focus,” South Korea coach Lee Kwang-jong said. “We know we need at least a draw against Colombia.”
South Korea reached the quarterfinals in 2009, their best result at the Under-20 tournament.
Hosts Colombia became the first team to book their place in the knockout stages by beating Mali 2-0 on Tuesday.
Colombia have two convincing wins in their two games and even with one group game to go, they are guaranteed of finishing either in the top two in Group A or being among the best of the third-place teams.

The hosts form also signalled they are a legitimate contenders for the title along with teams such as Spain, Brazil, Nigeria and six-time champions Argentina.
In other games Portugal defeated Cameroon 1-0 and Uruguay drew 1-1 with New Zealand.
Jose Valencia scored for Colombia in the 23rd and James Rodriguez added another in the 90th, giving the South Americans six points in two matches following a 4-1 opening game victory over France.
“I’m happy not only for the goal but because I helped the team reach our first goal which was to advance to the next round,” Colombia’s James Rodriguez said. “Mali was a tough opponent, but we played at a high level and that was important.”
The last set of games in Group A will be on Friday when Colombia take on South Korea at Bogota and Mali face France in Cali. Colombia have six points, France and South Korea have three and Mali nil.
The top two teams in each of the six groups advance to the knockout stage and are joined by the top four third-place teams.

In Group B, striker Nelson Oliveira scored in the 19th minute to give Portugal a 1-0 victory over Cameroon.
Portugal have four points, two more than Uruguay and New Zealand. Cameroon are last in the group with one point but retain a chance to advance to the next round.
Cameroon played a man down from the 71st after defender Ghislain Mvom was red carded.
Earlier, Uruguay outplayed New Zealand from the start but were held 1-1.
Andrew Bevin took advantage of one of New Zealand’s only chance to score with a header in the 57th, but Adrian Nicolas Luna equalized for the Uruguayans in the 74th with a right-footed shot into the far corner after a well-crafted attack.
Uruguay had 58 percent of the possession and outshot New Zealand 25-8 at the Pascual Guerrero stadium, but New Zealand goalkeeper Stefan Marinovic made several key saves.
“We deserved better luck,” Uruguay coach Juan Verzeri said. “Their goalkeeper stopped everything.”
Uruguay will finish group play against Cameroon, while New Zealand will face Portugal.
“I’m satisfied with the team’s performance, but not with the result,” New Zealand coach Chris Milich said. “We earned our first points in the World Cup but we didn’t come here to draw matches, we want to win them.”