Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Wuhan: A brace from forward Sung Hyang-sim helped a dominant DPR Korea to a 5-0 victory over Chinese Taipei in their Group B opener in the AFC U-16 Women’s Championship at the Hankou Culture & Sports Centre Stadium on Thursday.
Midfielder Kim Pom-ui opened the scoring for DPR Korea in the second minute, before Sung’s double and a strike from forward Ri Hae-yon put the 2007 winners four goals to the good at the interval.
Hwang Yong-song’s side remained in control after the restart, but had to wait until stoppage time for midfielder Jon Sun-sim to add a fifth as the 2013 runners-up moved to the top of the group ahead of holders Japan, who saw off Uzbekistan 4-0 in Thursday’s other Group B encounter.
“Our wingers and central players were good. We played as I expected and got the result we wanted,” said DPR Korea coach Hwang, whose side will next face Uzbekistan on Saturday.
“We substituted three players and held back in the second half to save ourselves for the next match.”
DPR Korea took the lead within two minutes when defender Choe Un-chong delivered a free-kick from the right that eventually fell at the feet of Kim, who turned the ball goalwards from close range.
And hesitation by defender Tien Wen-hsin in the eighth minute allowed Sung to take possession of the ball inside the penalty area, before she wriggled through the Chinese Taipei backline and finished from just a few yards out.
Sung then notched her second in the 33rd minute when the ball broke to her eight yards from goal, and she made no mistake in tucking it into the bottom right corner to give Chinese Taipei a mountain to climb.
Hwang’s side then nearly added a fourth three minutes before the break when midfielder An Kuk-hyang lashed the ball against the woodwork from distance, before Ri did make it four just seconds later by drilling past goalkeeper Chen Chiao-lun from 10 yards.
DPR Korea remained in the ascendency in the second half and Sung should have grabbed her hat-trick in the 65th minute, but she fired straight at Chen after Ri’s shot had fortuitously landed at her feet 10 yards from goal.
And the three-time runners-up twice came close to adding to their first-half tally in the final 10 minutes, first when Ri fired a powerful left-foot drive just over from fully 20 yards and then when Sung shot straight at the advancing Chen from close in.
But DPR Korea did then score a fifth three minutes into added time when Sung’s centre from the by-line was side-footed home by Jon from 10 yards to wrap up a 5-0 scoreline.
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“We only performed at about 70%; we were not prepared enough and didn’t keep up with the tempo in the first half,” said Chinese Taipei coach Hsieh Chih-chun, who will now look to lift his team for Saturday’s tie with three-time winners Japan.
“At half-time we analysed their attacking play and changed our defence, which got the result we wanted. They attacked a lot but when we defended properly, we improved.”
Photo: WSG