Sunderland have been beaten 1-0 by Korean club Seongnam Ilhwa in their opening match of the pre-season Peace Cup in Suwon.
The Black Cats went down to the K-League club in the first match of the tournament courtesy of EvertonSantos' 29th minute effort which came with a strong finish from close range.
Sunderland struggled in the hot conditions in South Korea but were close to an equaliser late on when Connor Wickham hit the post with a deflected effort before Craig Gardner struck the crossbar from 30 yards.
In the end, however, Seongnam ran out deserved winners and will now face the winner of tomorrow's clash between German club Hamburg and Dutch outfit Groningen with Sunderland taking on the loser.
