South Korea boys survives thriller with 2-2 draw<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Red-hot favorite South Korea spared itself any
\nhumiliation against spirited Kuwait at the Asian Youth Under-19
\nsoccer championship yesterday with a 2-2 draw.<\/p>\n
The South Korean's, fresh from their convincing 3-1 over
\nThailand on Wednesday, careless defense caused them to trail 1-2
\nbefore Kim Sung-il snatched the relieving equalizer six minutes
\nfrom time the time.<\/p>\n
South Korea turned desperate during the last 30 minutes when
\nSeo Dong-wong squandered a penalty awarded by Lebanese referee
\nTalal Saleh, following a foul committed by Hamad Al Basri against
\nChang Sung-nam in the penalty box.<\/p>\n
\"We are unlucky. Had we converted on the penalty, we would
\nhave won the hard-fought battle,\" coach Won Heung-jae said. Won
\npraised his opponents for staging an excellent challenge.<\/p>\n
Having the physical advantage, South Korea set out in the
\nmatch with lackluster play, drilling long passes towards Kuwait's
\ngoalmouth but meaning nothing to the ruthless Middle Eastern
\ndefense.<\/p>\n
Kuwait blew its sting with an 18th minute goal when Yousef Al
\nRashidi breezed a rebound past South Korean goalie Noh Su-man and
\nsent the ball to the far post as three South Korean defenders
\nattempted a vain clearance.<\/p>\n
It took South Korea 16 minutes to resurface when Park Sung-bae
\ndrove a long pass from Ahn Jung-hwan to the net left vacant by
\nthe stranded goalkeeper Yousef Fyth, a reserve for Kuwait's
\nnumber one goalie Abdullah Ashour.<\/p>\n
But Kuwait, relying much on counter attacks, struck another
\ngoal seven minutes after the break through a penalty executed by
\nNohayr Al Shammari.<\/p>\n
The tooth and nail battle forced the referee to flash eight
\nyellow cards, each side receiving four.<\/p>\n
Other draw<\/p>\n
Yesterday's other Group B match pitting Thailand against
\nBahrain ended also in a 1-1 lackluster draw.<\/p>\n
Hungry to win the match after losing 3-1 to South Korea two
\ndays ago, Thailand was too hurried in its aggressive attacks,
\nthereby missing some important goal opportunities.<\/p>\n
This was confirmed by Thailand's coach, Chatchai Paholpat,
\nafter the match. \"We really expected to win this match in order
\nto qualify for the semifinals,\" Chatchai said. He added that his
\nteam relied too much on Tawan Sripan's attacking ability.<\/p>\n
Boosted by their hopes of winning, the Thais succeeded in
\ntaking control of the match. Everytime they launched an attack,
\nthough, practically the whole Bahraini team always shielding the
\ngoal.<\/p>\n
On the other hand, Bahrain's overprotection on defense made it
\ndifficult for them to score. Every time one of its booters led
\nthe ball over near their enemy's goal post, nobody was there to
\nhelp him nudge it in.<\/p>\n
However, after a dull 0-0 draw in the first half, Yaser Saleh
\nKadham of Bahrain unexpectedly hit an easy goal in the 62nd.<\/p>\n
Yaser way out in front of his teammates, the Thais hotly
\npursued him, knocking down Thailand's goalie Wacharapong and
\neasily kicking the ball into the unguarded goal.<\/p>\n
Thailand finally equalized the score in the 75th through
\nKiatisuk after several off-target attacks on Bahrain's heavily
\nguarded goal.<\/p>\n
Standings<\/p>\n
Group A
\n 1. Syria 2 2 0 0 6-1 6
\n 2. Iraq 3 2 0 1 7-4 6
\n 3. Qatar 3 1 1 1 4-6 4
\n 4. Indonesia 2 0 1 1 1-5 1
\n 5. Kazakhstan 2 0 0 2 4-6 0<\/p>\n
Group B
\n 1. S. Korea 2 1 1 0 5-3 4
\n 2. Thailand 3 1 1 1 5-5 4
\n 3. Japan 2 1 0 1 2-2 3
\n 4. Kuwait 2 0 1 1 3-3 3
\n 5. Bahrain 3 0 2 1 2-4 2<\/p>\n
Today's fixtures:
\n Qatar vs Syria, 5.30 p.m.
\n Indonesia vs Kazakhstan, 7.30 p.m.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/south-korea-boys-survives-thriller-with-2-2-draw-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}