Tue, 30 Nov, -0001
Colombo: A brace from Ri Jin-hyok saw Rimyongsu Club put the AFC President's Cup on notice with a comprehensive 5-0 drubbing of FC Erchim in their Group B tie at Sugathadasa Stadium on Monday.
Ri Hyok, Ri Kwang-hyok and Pak Song-chol were also on target to claim a convincing victory for the DPR Korea side while Erchim saw both Erkhembayar Batmunkh and Bilguun Ganbold sent off to cap a dismal afternoon for the Mongolians.
With Erchim having already lost to Bangaldesh's Sheikh Russel Krira Chakra Limited in their tournament opener on Saturday, their second consecutive defeat means they are eliminated from the competition, while Rimyongsu will take on Sheikh Russel on Wednesday to decide who advances to Friday's final to face the winners of Group A.
"The first match of any tournament is always the most important so we made a lot of preparation and focused all our efforts on this game," said Rimyongsu coach Jo Tong-sop.
"We prepared strategically, technically and psychologically and I'm very satisfied with my players' performance, they really applied all our preparation in training to this match, which was great to see.
"The Mongolian team seemed very tired after their last game, but we are prepared for the short rest period that we have before our next game."
Erchim coach Vojislav Bralusic had made two changes to the team that lost 1-0 to Sheikh Russel two days previous with Battulga Zorigt and Batbilguun Ganbaatar coming in to bolster the midfield, but it was Rimyongsu who looked the brighter side right from the start.
Erchim goalkeeper Ariunbold Batsaikhan had to be at his best to keep out efforts from both Ri Jin-hyok and Ri Sang-chol early on before the rampant DPR Korea side, almost inevitably, took the lead on 19 minutes.
Ro Hak-su's in-swinging corner kick from the right-hand side found a leaping Ri Jin-hyok at the near post and the forward cleverly directed his head past Batsaikhan.
And Rimyongsu's lead was doubled just two minutes later as Ri Chol-myong found Ri Hyok unmarked in the penalty area with a lofted pass from near the centre circle, and the latter calmly controlled the high ball before steering a composed left-footed shot into the bottom left-hand corner.
The quick one-two punch was a visible body-blow to a game Erchim side, who had worked a brave rearguard action throughout, and midway through the first half the score line became 3-0 as another accurate Ro corner was turned in, this time by Ri Kwang-hyok who ghosted in to head home.
And Rimyongsu's deadly precision from set-pieces continued in the second period as Pak curled in a splendid free-kick from the edge of the area nine minutes after the restart for his team's fourth goal.
Having been booked after conceding the foul that led to Pak's goal, Batmunkh's day got even worse just four minutes later as his foul on Ri Jin-hyok earned him his second yellow card and dismissal on 58 minutes.
Despite Erchim now playing with ten men, Ri Jin-hyok was in no mood for clemency and on the 65th minute the striker had his second and Rimyongu's fifth, as he clinically dispatched Ri Chang-ho's knock-down from close-range.
With Rimyongsu content to see out the remaining minutes there was still time for more misery for Erchim as Bilguun Ganbold saw straight red on 87 minutes for kicking out at Kim Kyong-il as the Mongolian side finished the tie with nine men.
"Before the tournament I said Rimyongsu would be the strongest team in the tournament, and they showed that today," said Erchim coach Bralusic.
"They had better technique, power, and stamina than my guys, but I feel we learnt a lot from this game and it was a good experience for my players who are, after all, in an amateur team.
"We maybe need to work on our character a bit though, I didn't like to see some of the players show a lack of respect and character out there, even though we've come a long way since I took over a year ago, we will need to go home and work a lot."