AYG Football: South Korea cruise past China to set up derby final

Story by Alan Chiang/Red Sports. Photos by Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports

Jalan Besar Stadium, Saturday, July 4, 2009 - Hot favourites South Korea defeated bruising China 2-0 to seal a ticket to the Asian Youth Games (AYG) football final against brethren DRP Korea.

Two goals, one from each half, were enough to take the South Koreans through to their final match of the Games. In the earlier semi-final, North Korea defeated Iran by a solitary goal with courtesy of an easy tap-in from substitute Ryo Yu Song.

Both sides entered the match adopting conservative tactics, as South Korea played a 4-4-1-1 approach while China employed the 4-5-1 strategy.

China might have kicked-off the second semi-final, but it was Korea who got the better of their opponents enjoying vast possession early in the game.

South Korea got onto the score sheet through their star player Suh Myeongwon in the 13th minute, after he met team mate Lee Huichan's free kick with a glancing header that took a bounce before rolling past the stranded Chinese goalkeeper, Jia Xinyao.

As the game progressed, the Koreans began to gain a great deal of confidence with some impressive displays of skills and ball control against China, who had gone into the match without a few key players due to suspension and injuries.

Even Yan Peng, China's top scorer, also had a quiet outing against the dominant Koreans.

China's real chance occurred just after the half-way mark of the first half when Tang Shi was put through by team mate Liang Xueming. However, his shot was directed straight at the Korean goalkeeper, Lee Seongwon, who needed a second touch to keep the ball out.

With the one-goal advantage, the Koreans continued their domination and began the second half as the stronger side.

Lee Wooseok, the defensive midfielder, also got into the front after some skillful ball control allowed him to head for the penalty box and took a deflected shot at goal. Fortunately for the Chinese, Xinyao was alert to hold on to the ball.

There were more actions after about 10 minutes into the second half, Korea's Lee Huichan had a thunderbolt free kick cleared off the line by China's Wang Yaopeng after a blunder by the Chinese goalkeeper.

With the Koreans piling on the attacks, China's goalkeeper was starting to have a torrid time in front of goal and he definitely had to produce a man-of-the-match performance to keep the Koreans at bay.

In the 57th minute, Korea made their first substitution with Kim Kyungtae brought on to replace Roh Sungmin, who had collected a yellow card for lashing out at China's Tang Shi.

Kim Kyungtae did not take too long to impress the crowd as his first touch came in the form of a volleyed shot that went just inches over the top bar.

The situation worsened for China as their defenders committed critical errors. Their clearance fell within Kim Sunbin’s reach on one occasion, as Kim seized on the chance to increase his goal tally, but Xinyao was equaled to the task to deny him.

Kim Sunbin was quickly presented with another chance to score that went begging as he was placed through on goal by teammate Lee Wooseok. In his excitement, however, Kim fumbled on his final touch.

As China went searching for the all-important equalizer, they left abundant of spaces in the middle of the field which eventually proved costly, especially when the Koreans were formidable in counter-attack.

The highlight of the game came in the final minute as China's Lee Huichan took out Korea's Kim Sunbin legs in the penalty area and the referee, without hesitation, pointed to the spot for the Koreans.

Korea's Kim Sunbin had to re-take his penalty after his teammates were found inside the penalty box before the ball was struck. Unperturbed, Kim scored on both attempts as he gave Korea a two-goal cushion.

Korea held on in the remaining seconds for their ticket to the gold medal match.

China's coach, Zhu Jinxing said after the match, "This is the seventh match that we are playing and my team has done well as a whole since we only have one month of training to establish this team."

He conceded defeat to a better opponent, he stated, "Korea is a mature team with very good individual players. They are really skillful and the coach deployed a better strategy."

Commenting on his player, Cheng Zecheng, who gave away a penalty in the last minute, he said, "I think he has tried his best."

Korea's coach Chung Jungyong also agreed that fatigue had taken a toll on his players, he said, "This is our seventh match with only one day of rest."

He added, "This competition is more about the stamina of the team and that will have a lot of influence on the performance."

On the team's chances to land the gold medal, he said, "We will do our best against North Korea and for these young players, we have to think more about recovery first."

He also commented on China's rough play as his star striker Jeong Chunggeun had to be substituted for what appeared to be a twisted ankle as his ankle was wrapped with ice while he boarded the team bus back to hotel.

Jeong will have 2 days to make a speedy recovery before the final against DPR Korea kicks off on Monday, 5pm.

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