The Hindu : Sport / Football : Jordan holds South Korea

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jul 20, 2004

Sport

Sport - Football

Jordan holds South Korea

JINAN, China, july 19. Jordan held heavily favoured World Cup semifinalist South Korea to a 0-0 draw in the Asia Cup football championship on Monday.

Jordanian goalkeeper Amer Shafi thwarted several scoring chances by the South Koreans, who had the majority of possession and created many opportunities. Shafi was forced to come off his line and make diving saves to keep Jordan alive in the Group `B' encounter.

Despite missing several regulars, including captain Yoo Sang-chul and defender Song Chong-gug because of Olympic team commitments, South Korea's Dutch-born coach Jo Bonfrere fielded an offensive line-up with three strikers.

Both sides started ambitiously in front of about 20,000 spectators at Jinan's 42,000-seat Shandong Stadium, with the Koreans dominating possession and creating a slew of scoring opportunities.

In the 10th minute, Jordan threatened when Hassouneh Qasem centred from the right to Badran Shagran who couldn't quiet reach the ball inside the Korean penalty area.

However, South Korea took over with Ahn Jung-hwan pouncing on a loose ball in the 30th minute, rushing through the Jordanian defence and unleashing a powerful low drive which Shafi blocked with a diving save.

Seven minutes later, Seol Ki-hyeon beat two defenders on the right edge of the area, lofting a pass to an unmarked Chung Kyung-ho whose header sailed over the crossbar. With one minute left before the break, Seol almost connected at the edge of the 6-yard box with Ahn's low drive from the right.

Korea's domination continued in the second half with Shafi racing off his line to block Ahn's powerful shot from the left edge of the area. Ten minutes later, Shafi had to stretch to deny a long-range effort by Ahn.

South Korea finished with 10 men after Choi Jin-cheul was ejected in the closing minutes after earning a second caution for arguing with Singaporean referee Shamsul Maidan. — AP

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