|
AFC - Jong Chol-min and Kim Kum-il scored two
goals each as DPR Korea bounced back from their opening game reverse to rout
Iran 5-0 in the AFC Youth Championship on Tuesday here at the Sree
Kanteerava Stadium.
A quickfire brace from Jong (4, 10) put his side in a strong position before
Kim (25, 47) and substitute Ri Hung-ryong (77) joined the goalfest and
sealed DPR Korea’s first points of the competition in style.
DPR Korea coach Jo Tong-sop, in search of a winning combination after the
opening 2-0 defeat to Japan, started defender Ri Yong-chol and striker Pak
Chol-min while Iran boss Alberto Oliviera preferred not to tinker with a
team which had defeated Tajikistan 3-1, coming back from a goal down.
DPR Korea got off to a blistering start, mounting a lightning-fast break in
the fourth minute which saw captain Kim Kum-il escape down the left and
cross unselfishly to striker Jong Chol-min for an easy header past Iranian
goalkeeper Alireza Haghighi.
The two combined again six minutes later to heap more misery on Haghighi.
Kim saw his path blocked by three Iranian defenders and after turning his
marker inside-out threaded the ball to Jong, who controlled it well before
blasting low into the right corner.
As far as Jong was concerned the goals had the right effect - Iranian
shoulders slumped while there was a spring in the steps of his protégés.
As the pressure mounted, the Iranian backline looked at sixes and sevens and
in danger of conceding another goal. Another worrying factor for the
goalkeepers was the uneven bounce and given the fact that Haghighi had
already leaked two goals, he looked more vulnerable than his counterpart Ju
Kwang-min, who however found himself tested in the 17th minute when Mehrdad
Pooladi held the ball well under pressure near the 18-yard line and found
enough space to dispatch a grounder which missed the right upright by
inches.
In the 25th minute, it was time for Jong to return the favour to his skipper
with a well-timed pass as the Iranian defence was again caught napping and
Kim’s shot from 15 yards slammed into the net.
Iran, who according to their Brazilian coach have made come-from-behind
victories their forte, did mount sporadic attempts to reduce the arrears but
this was proving to be one deficit too big to erase.
Oliviera then substituted defender Ali Amiri and put in attacking midfielder
Saman Agha Zamani to give the Iranian frontline more teeth in the 34th
minute but it was the Koreans who almost scored through Jong. Earlier Pak
Chol-min had gone agonisingly close with a header which went just wide of
the left post.
Within two minutes of the restart, Jo’s team had put the match well beyond
Iran when Kim netted his brace, finishing off a move with a snapshot after
Haghighi had blocked two successive shots from close range.
Things were not helped by Iran’s cold feet in front of goal and the sizeable
number of Iranian fans at the stadium vociferously made their displeasure
known.
On the hour, Mostafa Chatrabgoon, Iran’s two-goal hero against the Tajiks in
the previous match, missed a sitter from close range and Pooladi fired wide
when presented with another opportunity of note.
There was no way Iran could afford such wastefulness and substitute Ri
Hung-ryong, who had come in for Kim Kuk-il
in the 65th minute, rammed home this point
with his 77th minute goal.
While the Korean coach was, not surprisingly, happy with the result, Iran’s
trainer said the huge defeat had left his team shell-shocked. “I cannot
explain how or why this happened,” said Oliviera. “And I am not going to
blame any defender individually. If anything is wrong then it is our
defensive system.”
Oliviera said his team was complacent after their win against Tajikistan.
“Korea were more goal-hungry and when you concede a goal in the second
minute of a match it destroys your strategy. All of us have to take the
blame.”
Korean trainer Jo said they had learnt their lessons from the Japan defeat.
“We followed Iran closely during the first match and analysed our own game
plan. We implemented several changes and it worked.”
“The first goal gave us confidence. Our strategy was to control the flanks
as two of Iran’s central defenders are very tall. We marked Yasha Khalili
and Shahram Goudarzi very well.”
Iran next play Japan while DPR Korea take on Tajikistan in Group C’s final
matches on Thursday.
|
