South Korea has brilliant start, beating Thais 3-1

JAKARTA (JP): South Korea marked its first step into the Asian youth under-19 soccer championship by smashing Thailand 3-1 yesterday.

The zeal was already felt when Park Sung-bae hit inside Thailand's net in the 5th minute, followed by many venturesome moments for both parties until Korea made its second goal in the 25th through Chung Sang Nam on a pass from Sung Bae.

Though trying very hard, Thailand was unable to penetrate South Korea's solid defense until the end of the first half.

Angered by South Korea's 2-0 lead, Thailand played very aggressively to even up the score in the second half as South Korea's defense showed slight exhaustion.

South Korea resorted to defensive measures and its players heavily guarded the goal. They sought only to maintain their 2-0 lead and fought as the Thais focused on attack and attack only.

The Thais' frantic moves resulted in many off-target shots but were able to convert in the 76th through Chukiat Noosalong.

Afraid to give up another goal, South Korea unwillingly changed its defensive mood and began attacking. A goal was scored soon thereafter but was then annuled by an offside penalty.

Another attempt made in the 80th was successful as Byun Jae Sup's diagonal kick escaped the attention of Thailand's goalie Wacharapong Somcit.

No yellow cards were issued by referee Daham Alikaidat of Jordan.

Thailand's coach, Chatchai Paholpat, said after the match that Thailand lost the game because Pranupong Pinsuvin, whom he regarded as the team's backbone, was ousted after being shown two yellow cards in the previous match against Japan.

Chatchai said that the South Korean team had an advantage over Thailand because they were still fresh. This was their first match and they had had an opportunity to study Thailand's performance against Japan on the second day. "Also, he added, "South Korean players are on average bigger and took advantage of their heigth by playing the ball up high, especially on inbound passes."

Revival

Japan revived its hopes of entering the world youth soccer championship in Lagos next year after defeating Bahrain 2-0 in the other Group B match yesterday. Both goals were scored in the last five minutes of the first half.

Smarting from its 0-2 defeat by Thailand, the well-organized Japanese team strongly defended the midfield and kept up the raids with long passes.

Hidetoshi Nakata was the architect who ruined Bahrain's ruthless wall, a hard job which eventually earned him the man of the match title last night. The cat-like winger, never far from Bahrain's goal, provoked numerous scrimmages and assisted both of the winning goals.

Naoki Matsuda's header in the 40th minute gave the Japanese side their first goal. Just two minutes later, Sotaro Yasunaga brought home a rebound to stretch the lead.

Both sides slowed down the pace in the second half, Japan holding most of the ball possessions.

"We made mistakes in the last two minutes when we were held 1- 1 by Kuwait. This time we made the same mistakes in the last minutes before the break," Bahrain coach Fuad Bushaqar admitted.

Referee Ng Yim Kin of Hong Kong booked Bahrain's Yaqoob Mohammed Khalaf and Ali Mohammed Salman as well as Japan's Nobuhisa Yamada and Mitsuhori Yabuta. (arf/amd)

Standings after yesterday's matches

Group A 1. Qatar 2 1 1 0 4-3 4 2. Syria 1 1 0 0 2-1 3 3. Iraq 2 1 0 1 4-4 3 4. Indonesia 1 0 1 0 1-1 1 5. Kazakhstan 2 0 0 2 4-6 0

Group B 1. S. Korea 1 1 0 0 3-1 3 2. Thailand 2 1 0 1 3-3 3 3. Japan 2 1 0 1 2-2 3 4. Kuwait 1 0 1 0 1-1 1 5. Bahrain 2 0 1 1 1-3 1