Host China loses 5-2 to South Korea in men's hockey
13/8/2008 18:14
Host China played an intense game with South Korea but was finally
defeated 5-2 in the Olympic men's hockey tournament in Beijing today.
Since
South Korea went down 3-1 to New Zealand and China lost 4-1 to Germany in their
first game, it was a must-win game for both teams and they fought a really hard
duel.
Na Yubo scored the opening field goal in the sixth minute and captain
Song Yi added a second by a penalty corner two minutes later and put China 2-0
ahead.
Captain Seo Jong Ho scored a field goal for South Korea in the 13th
minute and Jang Jong Hyun leveled the score 2-2 with a penalty corner at the
last second of the first half.
The second half went even tighter. However, in
the last 15 minutes, South Korea gained the upper hand and scored three goals,
two penalty corners from Jang Jong Hyun and the other field goal from Kang Seong
Jung, which sealed their win 5-2 over China.
Chinese players, debutants in
Olympic hockey tournament, failed to make a strong showing in front of a loud
crowd in the home land.
South Korea, ranked fifth in the world, won both
encounters with China at the 2006 Asian Games, 3-1 in the final and 3-0 in the
preliminary round.
Captain Song Yi said they made some major mistakes in the
second half. "We have no problem in tactics, but we didn't carry out the tactics
well and were somewhat slow in playing," he said, adding that they should not
have lost the game and were feeling very bad.
The hat-trick player Jang Jong
Hyun said they succeeded because of teamwork.
China coach Kim Sang Ryul noted
he was not happy with their performance today because of the bad coordination.
"I told them my plan before the game, but I think there was some
misunderstanding. So in the midfield and shooting circle there were some
mistakes," said Kim. "And Korea is a strong team."
China will confront Spain
next and South Korea take on Germany.
In another this morning match, world
champion Australia whitewashed South Africa 10-0 following its 6-1 win against
Canada Monday.
Xinhua
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