Upset penalty saves South Korea from humiliation at U-19

Upset penalty saves South Korea from humiliation at U-19

JAKARTA (JP): A penalty in the dying minutes saved South Korea
from an upset loss to Bahrain in their Asian Youth Under-19
soccer championship last night.

A rain of tears carried the Bahrainis to the locker room. The
Middle Eastern side, who took an impressive 2-1 lead before South
Korean substitute Ahn Jung-hwan successfully executed the penalty
four minutes from time for the equalizer, knew the draw had
dashed their hopes to win a semifinal berth.

"The referee was against us," a dejected Bahrain's coach Fuad
Bushaqar said after the match. "In sports everything must be
good, both players and referees," he continued muttering.

Sri Lankan referee Yapa Mahasena awarded the penalty after
Bahraini players floored Chung Sang-nam inside the penalty box,
following a massive push into Bahrain's defensive ground. The
match was paused for a few minutes as the disappointed Bahraini
boys lodged a protest with the cool-blooded referee.

"This is a match. We have to bow in what the referee has
decided," South Korean coach Won Heung-jae told reporters through
his interpreter. He declined to mention that his side was lucky
to score the last minute's goal.

The South Koreans, who also managed a late equalizer in their
match against Kuwait on Friday, kept their minds on hard,
attacking soccer from the outset. A careless defense, however,
cost them a fifth minute goal as Yusuf Amer Al Saadi found the
net in a fast counter-attack.

It took the South Koreans an hour to level the score, thanks
to Ahn's header which finished a corner kick from Park Han-dong.
Their laughter ended a minute later when Al Saadi struck his
second devastating goal in a similar way to his first.

Earlier yesterday, Japan moved closer to reaching the
semifinals after two headers earned them a 2-0 victory over an
exhausted Kuwait. The Japanese side, dubbed the favorites to win
the championship, leads the Group B with six points and need only
a draw to secure a ticket to the last four round.

Naoki Matsuda scored the first goal for Japan in the 28th
minute. Ten minutes after the interval, Hidetoshi Nakata
completed the Japanese rule over Kuwait.

Big win

On Saturday, Indonesian soccer fans found their long thirst
for victory satiated as their boys blanked Kazakhstan 3-0.

The win not only gave the Indonesians some revenge after their
4-0 trouncing at the hands of Syria on Thursday, it also revived
their hopes of reaching the semifinals, following Qatar's 1-1
draw against unbeaten Syria in Saturday's other Group A match.

Kurniawan Dwi Yulianto and company showed no signs of low
morale following Thursday's defeat and proved too much for the
hapless Kazakhstan team throughout the 90 minutes of play. Even
still, lack of composure was once again the weakness of
Indonesia's attack.

Indonesia's well-organized, bottom-up raid through skillful
short passing paid off in the 10th minute. Hard working winger
Supriono sent a stylish cross to Adang Gusnida who was running
unmarked. Kazakhstan defender Nourlan Issaev attempted a
clearance, but wound up with an own goal instead.

Kurniawan, who was denied when his header was repelled by the
crossbar a minute after the break, gave his side a 2-0 lead in
the 64th minute when he chipped in a curving corner struck ably
by Supriono.

Nine minutes later, Indrianto Nugroho closed the scoring in a
solid partnership with Kurniawan.

"Our players managed to edge out their psychological strain
after the humiliating defeat," coach Danurwindo said after the
match. He added that Indonesia will play with the same spirit in
the do-or-die battle against Iraq today.

In the other match, Nadir Jokhader's strike one minute from
time saved favorite Syria from an embarrassing loss to Qatar.
Qatar had taken a worrying 1-0 lead in the 72nd minute, thanks to
Syrian defender Hassan Abbas' own goal.

Standings (tabulate under played, won, drew, lost, goals for,
goals against, points)

Group A
Syria 3 2 1 0 7-2 7
Iraq 3 2 1 0 7-4 7
Qatar 4 1 2 1 5-7 5
Indonesia 3 1 1 1 4-5 4
Kazakhstan 3 0 0 3 4-9 0

Group B
Japan 3 2 0 1 4-2 6
S. Korea 3 1 2 0 7-5 5
Thailand 3 1 1 1 4-4 4
Bahrain 4 0 2 2 4-6 3
Kuwait 3 0 2 1 3-5 2