North Korea showed why they are the favorites when they scored either side of halftime and shut out Taiwan’s men’s soccer team 2-0 in Hong Kong yesterday in the opening match of the second round of qualifiers for next year’s East Asian Championship.
It was Taiwan’s Japanese head coach Kazuo Kuroda’s first time in charge of an international as his team faced a stern test against North Korea.
Taiwan’s hopes of getting off to a winning start were extinguished by opponents with a proud pedigree of having qualified for the 1966 as well as the 2010 FIFA World Cup finals.
Kuroda opted for a 4-2-3-1 formation with three attacking midfielders behind lone striker Wu Ching-ching, against a team coached by Norway’s Joern Andersen, who formerly coached Red Bull Salzburg and Karlsruher SC.
Both teams started on the front foot, but North Korea were the more dangerous side, slicing through the Taiwanese defense with crisp passing combinations.
North Korea went ahead in the 16th minute from a corner-kick, with forward Jong Il-gwan deflecting a shot into the net.
Taiwan tried in vain to equalize, with their best chance coming when Wu headed a cross wide in the 37th minute.
Both sides were more cautious at the beginning of the second half, resulting in fierce tackles and angry clashes, while North Korea continued to get through Taiwan’s defenses with their superior passing and individual flair.
Taiwan’s best chance came in the 77th minute when Wen Chih-hao set up Chen Po-liang on the right side of the six-yard box, but his drive was parried away by veteran goalkeeper Ri Myong-guk.
With the clock winding down, North Korea substitute Sim Hyon-jin received a pass near the center circle and went on a brilliant run, going past two players, bulldozing his way into the six-yard box and sending his low shot past hapless goalkeeper Chiu Yu-hung to seal the 2-0 victory.
“When we went behind by a goal, I made some changes to be more attacking and try to equalize, but it did not go our way and they scored a second to win it,” Kuroda said after the game. “We played a good game and the players learned many things from it. We can improve upon this performance and play in a different way in the next match [against Hong Kong on Wednesday].”
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