Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Nanjing: Korea Republic began the defence of their title in stunning style as they stormed to a 13-0 victory over Iran in the Group B opener of the AFC U-19 Women’s Championship at the Jiangsu Training Base Stadium on Wednesday.
Hwang Hye-soo, Choi Hee-jeong and Namgung Ye-ji were all on target as the Koreans went into to the break with a five-goal advantage and the onslaught continued after the restart, with forward Namgung adding her second in between strikes from substitutes Son Hwa-yeon and Wie Jae-eun to make it eight within the hour.
Midfielder Park Yee-un added a ninth before Wie claimed her hat-trick by netting twice either side of Son’s second, and substitute Song Ji-yoon wrapped up scoring in the final minute to complete a miserable day for Iran.
“My players did what I asked of them; the offence was very good and we scored a huge amount of goals,” said Korea Republic coach Jong Song-chon, whose side will now look ahead to an encounter with Thailand in Matchday Two on Friday.
“We have a strong squad so when I brought on players in the second half they were able to take advantage of the space when Iran became tired.”
The holders went in front on the 11-minute mark when defender Yoon Sun-young played a ball down the right to Choi, whose high lob over onrushing goalkeeper Arefehossadat Kazemi bounced up onto the bar before falling to Hwang for an easy tap-in.
Choi did get on the scoresheet three minutes later, though, when she latched onto to a beautiful through ball by Namgung before rounding the keeper and tapping into an empty net.
Jong’s side then went three up on 23 minutes when Lee So-hee’s cross from the right eventually fell to Hwang, who fired into the bottom corner from 12 yards with her second of the game.
And the Koreans grabbed a fourth in the 35th minute when Choi headed home her brace, before Namgung made it 5-0 after Choi’s deflected shot broke kindly to her inside the box.
The two-time champions didn’t ease up after the interval, adding a sixth in the 51st minute when substitute keeper Morvarid Nasr was only able to push Son’s looping header into the roof of the net.
Namgung then got her second of the game the 58th minute, firing low into the bottom left hand corner, before substitute Wie made it 8-0 a minute later after being played in by Son.
The South Koreans grabbed a ninth with 25 minutes left when Park headed home Yoon’s free-kick from the right, before Wie tapped in from close range in the 71st minute to send them into double figures.
Son notched her second of the tie in the 77th minute when she chested in Wie’s cross from the left, before returning the favour three minutes later by crossing from the right for Wie to complete her hat-trick with an easy finish.
Substitute Song then completed the rout in the last minute when she burst into the box and fired low into the bottom right hand corner.
“Korea were much better than us, but I don’t know why my players didn’t play well today, maybe the humidity affected them,” said Iran coach Mahnaz Amirshaghaghi, who will now look to lift her side for their tie with DPR Korea on Friday.
“My players now need to focus for the next game and try to do better.”
Photo: WSG