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China win U-17 Asian title
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2004-09-19 10:05
Wang Weilong's header brought China a second AFC U-17 championship after 12
years as they edged past the Democratic People's Republic of Korea 1-0 in the
final at the Fujieda Stadium in Shizuoka, Japan.
Chinese U-17 players celebrate
their championship in Shizuoka, Japan after they beat North Korea 1-0 in
the final. [sina] | China's only previous victory
in the competition was in 1992 when they defeated Qatar in the final in Saudi
Arabia but Wang's winner five minutes from time Saturday evening brought China
the second triumph, a surprising victory over a DPR Korean side that dominated
proceedings, but Pak Hui-sam's side paid the ultimate price for failing to turn
their dominance into goals.
"This was a tougher game than we thought it was going to be and we were able
to control the ball less than we would have liked," said China coach Zhang Ning,
"But we had the ability to utilize the chance that came our way.
"The DPR Korean players played well and were very skillful but, regardless of
that, we were able to turn the game over and claimed the title."
Just as they did in their penalty shoot-out win over Qatar in the semifinal,
the DPR Koreans had a catalogue of chances throughout the 90 minutes, but it was
with 30 minutes gone that their first real opportunity came along.
Choe Myong-ho's shot from the edge of the area flew past Chinese goalkeeper
Wang Dalei but, rather than nestling in the back of the net, the ball cannoned
back off the post.
Less than a minute later, Wang was called into action again and this time
denied his opponents with a save at full stretch after Mun Kyong-nam's scorching
low effort from 20 meters out. Within seconds a third chance presented itself
but, after rounding Wang, Pak Chol-min's control let him down and the Chinese
survived.
The DPR Korea continued to dominate but, as time wore on and fatigue set in,
the Chinese became more and more of a force. Eventually, with time running down,
they finally managed to break through the other side's defence, Cai Yaohui
floating over an 85th minute corner and Wang Weilong rising high to head home.
"The players are a little disappointed because we were very motivated to win
and I'm sorry that we couldn't grasp the trophy," said the DPR Korean coach Pak.
"We thought that we would take it easier in the first half and conserve
energy but what actually happened was the players were a bit too excited and
they played at full force right from the start. So by the end of the second half
we lost the ability to attack and that's an area we need to work on in the
future."
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