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| Taeguk Warriors crash down to shock defeat |
| [ 2010-02-11 ] |
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| ⓒ KFA |
Korea Republic lost 3-0 to China PR in their second match of the EAFF East Asian Football Championship in Tokyo, as the Chinese inflicted a historic defeat on their nemesis for the first time in 32 years.
Yu Hai and Gao Lin gave their side a two-goal lead before the half-hour mark, with Deng Zhuoxiang putting the result beyond doubt early in the second half. It was the first time that China PR have beaten Korea Republic at this level, in their 28 attempts since their first encounter in 1978.
Korea Republic coach Huh Jung-Moo opted for a 4-4-2 formation, introducing a new partnership of Lee Dong-Gook and Lee Keun-Ho up front. Captain Kim Jung-Woo and Koo Ja-Cheol pulled the strings in midfield, with Oh Jang-Eun and Kim Do-Heon on the flanks. Centre-back Kwak Tae-Hwi returned to partner with Cho Yong-Hyung, while Lee Jung-Soo and Oh Beom-Seok started as full-backs.
Early setback
Cheered on by the passionate supporters inside Ajinomoto Stadium, the Chinese got off to a best possible start as Yu’s glancing header off a Qu Bo cross went inside Lee Woon-Jae’s right-hand post. To add insult to injury for the Koreans, left-back Lee Jung-Soo limped off the pitch after injuring his right knee, giving way for Park Joo-Ho in the 15th minute.
Despite the early blows, the Taeguk Warriors were desperate to get back into the game. Lee Keun-Ho tried his luck with a rasping drive from 25 metres that Yang Zhi managed to parry away in the 19th minute, before Koo’s left-footed shot from the resulting corner went just wide the right post.
Just as the Koreans were trying to regroup, a defensive error gave their opponents an unlikely 2-0 lead. In the 27th minute, centre-back Kwak Tae-Hwi’s attempted clearance was intercepted by Yang Hao, who passed the ball to Gao on the left side of the area. The Shanghai Shenhua striker made no mistake, beating Lee with an unstoppable left foot shot from an acute angle.
Gao almost scored his second four minutes from the interval, when he was put through in front of goal with only the goalkeeper to beat, but he missed the chance to shoot with Lee closing in to reduce the angle.
Korea Republic could not recover from the shock in the first half, although their coach Huh tried to sharpen up the attack by replacing Lee Keun-Ho for Lee Seung-Yeoul at the half-time.
However, it was a moment of individual brilliance from Deng that sealed the match in China’s favour on the hour-mark. Deng received the ball from Qu on the right channel before beating three defenders to fire a low shot past Lee.
The Taeguk Warriors would not give up without a fight, as Kim Jung-Woo beat Yang with a looping shot over the Chinese keeper, only to see the ball cleared by Rong Hao off the crossbar in the 68th minute. Lee Dong-Gook had the last chance to pull one back with four minutes remaining, although his powerful volley from the edge of the area hit the side netting.
Mixed reactions
“The defeat was down to the fact that I used several players who had never played together with the others before,” Huh said after the game. “But I needed to see them play before the World Cup finals anyway.”
“I was disappointed, but the level of the Chinese team has improved a lot,” Huh admitted. “Overall, we were not in our good form.”
China PR coach Gao Hongbo praised his players for winning the mental side of the game.
“I’m really happy that we won today. We prepared for this game very well and we proved what we’ve done was right,” he said. “We controlled the game really well mentally, which resulted in an early goal.”
“My players, especially captain Du Wei and forward Qu Bo, understood our tactics very well,” Gao added. “And we had luck as well in scoring three goals.”
EAFF East Asian Football Championship, Match No3
10 February 2010, Ajinomoto Stadium, Tokyo
Korea Republic 0-3 China PR
Scorers: Yu 5, Gao 27, Deng 60
Korea Republic (4-4-2)
Lee Woon-Jae; Oh Beom-Seok, Kwak Tae-Hwi, Cho Yong-Hyung, Lee Jung-Soo (Park Joo-Ho 15); Kim Do-Heon (No Byung-Jun 62), Kim Jung-Woo, Koo Ja-Cheol, Oh Jang-Eun; Lee Keun-Ho (Lee Seung-Yeoul 46), Lee Dong-Gook
China PR (4-2-3-1)
Yang; Du, Feng, Zhang, Rong; Yang, Zhao (Yan 72); Yu, Deng (Zhao 87), Qu; Gao (Jiang 63)
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