South Korea crowned girls’ champions of Lion City Cup, S’pore finish second

SINGAPORE – South Korea capped off a dominant campaign at the Lion City Cup’s inaugural girls’ competition with an 8-1 win over Hong Kong on July 12 – they scored their third straight victory at Jalan Besar Stadium to finish the tournament unbeaten.

Having already cruised past Singapore 9-0 and Cambodia 12-0 in earlier matches, the South Koreans were in control from the start.

Yet, despite the impressive scoreline in their final game, head coach Kim Eun-jung was not entirely satisfied with her team’s performance, expressing disappointment at conceding a goal.

She said: “It was the last game and we did win but it was not the score that I wanted.

“I emphasised to the players that the loss of one goal is more painful than scoring many goals.”

Her outlook on the match underlined the ambitions of the South Korean team, who were the only Under-15 side in the U-16 tournament.

Noting that the aim of the tournament was to give her players exposure, Kim experimented with various line-ups.

Hong Kong took a surprise lead in the 22nd minute when South Korea goalkeeper Ko Ha-eun misjudged a clearance, allowing Sophia Chua to score.

In response, coach Kim made three substitutions six minutes later. Hong Kong continued to threaten, with goalkeeper Hazel Wong making several key saves as South Korea pushed for an equaliser.

They finally drew level when striker Cho An scored with a left-footed effort in the 34th minute. Goals from Cho and Son Seo-hyeon in the next two minutes saw them go 3-1 up.

The second half saw South Korea extend their lead as captain Kim Hee-jin intercepted the ball for a quick one-two with Cho before slotting past the goalkeeper to make it 4-1.

Son added another goal in the 63rd minute, followed by a surprising long-range effort from Park Na-young in the 69th minute that bounced past Hong Kong’s goalkeeper. The final goals came in the 83rd and 84th minutes from Hee-jin and Jeong Byeol to seal an emphatic 8-1 victory.

Cho, who finished the tournament as top scorer with seven goals, said she was proud of the team’s response after conceding.

The 15-year-old said: “After conceding the goal, it was very disappointing and we were embarrassed, but our players also believed we could score any minute. As expected, I scored right away and it was a happy moment.

“Every goal is not just for me, it’s for my other players and there was help from the coaches. It’s a very good experience for me.”

While Kim was not happy that her charges let a goal in, she stressed that the team’s main objective was development and giving players equal opportunities.

She added: “They’re young players and the growth after the game and through the tournament is important.

“We already had two games and scored so many goals so our goal was not to concede a goal, not scoring a lot.

“They are young players so even though I emphasised this kind of thing, it’s a process of growth and learning.”

Singapore placed second after beating Cambodia 2-0 in their final match to finish the tournament with six points from two wins and a loss.

The hosts took an early lead in the fifth minute when Liyana Indah Rickit slipped a through ball to striker Nur Ain Salleh, who fired it into the roof of the net.

Victory was sealed in the 75th minute as forward Nur Risya Rizqyqa capitalised on a poor clearance by Cambodian custodian Khann Sokhim to double the advantage.

Coach Yeong Sheau Shyan said: “We can see from this squad that individually, technically, we are able to compete with (some of) our international counterparts on this level, so the challenge for us is to keep them progressing as they grow older.

“This tournament itself, you can see that they came in together, we can compete on this level with Cambodia and Hong Kong. We know there’s a big level with the big gap with the next level of opponents like South Korea.

“But we are there, whether we can keep this level going is the challenge.”