| By Wang Meng Meng | ||
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Lee Hui Chan (front) leading the South Korean celebration after his 35m goal gave them a 3-0 lead. -- PHOTO: JOSEPH NAIR FOR THE STRAITS TIMES |
North Korea 0
South Korea 3
IT WAS a match that had political undertones, given the frosty relations between North and South Korea.
And at the end of 90 minutes at the Jalan Besar Stadium yesterday, words such as 'firepower' and 'rocket' were bandied about liberally.
But that was only to describe South Korean left-back Lee Hui Chan, who, watched by a crowd of 500, lit up the football match between the two neighbours at the Asian Youth Games. He hit a brace from distance as his team won 3-0 to top Group B.
In a demonstration of marksmanship, the South Korean showed that he was more than just a sentry on the flank.
If his first - a 24th-minute free kick from 30m lobbed over the North's goalkeeper Kwon Kum Chol - had a touch of luck about it, there was no arguing about the second and the South's third.
With 10 minutes to go, and some 35m from his objective, Hui Chan let fly with a half-volley, using the outside of his boot to give the ball the bend that saw Kum Chol well beaten.
'I didn't feel good about the first goal,' revealed Hui Chan, who plays in South Korea's Under-15 league for Pohang Steelers. 'It was a really lucky goal. But I was pleased with the second as I'd trained hard to shoot like this.'
His coach, Chung Jung Yong, was not surprised by the strike, arguably the goal of the tournament. He said: 'Lee has a really good shot. That's why I'm not surprised that he struck those beautiful goals in this game.'
After giving his team a earful for their apparent complacency in a 3-2 win over China last week, yesterday's result left Chung with a big grin.
'This is the best performance from us in this tournament,' he said. 'I expected a tough game and even thought we might lose. The coaching staff had a lot of discussions and we concluded that the only way to score was through set-pieces.'
The plan paid dividends in the 36th minute when Shim Je Hyeok's free kick caused panic in the box; in the ensuing melee, striker Sun Myeong Won rammed home the ball.
North Korean assistant coach Son Myong Hak believed that the 2-2 draw against Saudi Arabia on Sunday took its toll on his team.
'My players were tired after that hard game,' he explained. 'South Korea were in better physical shape than us. This was an important match for us if we wanted to go far.
'As for whether this result will cost us, we have one more game against Laos. So we'll see.'
