It's Stielike's apparent lack of tactical acumen on both ends of the pitch, something that clearly hadn't improved despite a string of mediocre matches during the ongoing qualification stage.

This was only South Korea's second loss to China in 32 meetings, against 18 wins and 12 draws. South Korea came in ranked 40th in the world, 46 spots above China.

South Korea somehow remained in second place in Group A with 10 points, four behind Iran and still in position for an automatic World Cup berth, but that shouldn't mask the fact that the team needs an overhaul.

On offense, South Korea held the possession over 64 percent of the time but had nothing to show for it. It wasn't the first time South Korea had failed to convert their edge in ball possession into goals, but Stielike stuck to the same, predictable attacking schemes on offense.

He has relied heavily on his full backs to send crosses toward the middle, hoping his featured strikers would make something happen by scoring directly off those passes or heading them down for the wingers.

Under their new boss Marcello Lippi, China were a vastly different team from the one that fell to South Korea 3-2 in September at the start of the qualification round. Their dogged defense read everything South Korea threw at it, and Stielike couldn't make any adjustments on the fly to crack the wall.

South Korea generated no dangerous chances from set pieces, either, nor did they control the midfield for any stretch in the match.

On defense, momentary lapses raised their ugly heads again.

China scored the only goal of the match off a corner kick in the 34th minute, and South Korea botched their coverage on forward Yu Dabao, who headed in a cross while free of defenders.

The midfield corps also got caught sleeping about 15 minutes into the second half, when Wu Xi was left all alone at the top of the box for a shot. Goalkeeper Kwoun Sun-tae bailed out his teammates with a great diving stop.

Before the match, Stielike had declared his team ready both tactically and mentally, saying the players were prepared to face a different Chinese team.

While Lippi ushered in changes for the better, Stielike has made some changes to his team selection philosophy that, in hindsight, have backfired so far.

Stielike has been famous for leaving off players who weren't getting regular action with their respective clubs, and instead selecting little-knowns who looked to be in better form in club play.

And it was all good when the team was winning, with Stielike getting hailed as a man of conviction who had a keen eye for hidden gems. In recent matches, though, Stielike selected a few players who hadn't spent much time on the pitch in their overseas leagues, mostly at the expanse of in-form stars in the domestic K League Classic.

The more pressing issue is the team's offensive approach, or lack thereof.

"The biggest problem is the team hasn't made tactical changes based on opponents," said Park Moon-sung, an analyst with local network SBS. "It's also a serious problem that the team has repeated the same mistakes."

Iran are leading Group A with 14 points with each team having four matches remaining. South Korea may not be able to catch Iran, and should realistically set their sight on holding on to the second spot. A third-place finish for South Korea means having to go through playoffs to qualify for their ninth straight World Cup.

And it's well within the realms of possibility that South Korea may not end up in second place. Uzbekistan are right behind with nine points, followed by Syria with eight. South Korea will host Syria Tuesday in Seoul, but though Syria are ranked only 95th, it's not a guaranteed victory for South Korea. Their previous meeting in September ended in a scoreless draw, and Syria are riding high after shocking Uzbekistan 1-0 on an injury-time penalty Thursday.

Syria will most likely try to crowd their own zone and look for counter attack opportunities. That will test the lethargic South Korean offense once again, and Stielike will have to come up with something more creative than sending long balls toward the middle.

Stielike also came under fire after that draw with Syria and a 1-0 loss to Iran last fall, but his players gave him the lifeline with a win over Uzbekistan. Chung Mong-gyu, head of the Korea Football Association (KFA), insisted Friday Stielike's job is safe, but a loss to Syria may well change that. (Yonhap)