Tue, 30 Nov, -0001
Ho Chi Minh City: Cho So-hyun scored a hat-trick as Korea Republic began their AFC Women’s Asian Cup campaign in ruthless fashion following a one-sided 12-0 win over Myanmar in Thursday’s Group B opener.
Park Eun-sun, Ji So-yun and Jeon Ga-eul each netted twice while Kwon Hah-nul, Park Hee-young and Yeo Min-ji were also on target at Nhong That Stadium.
The game was all but over by half-time as Korea led by seven, and five further goals in the second half underlined the gulf in class and sent out a statement of intent to the rest of the competition with Yoon Deok-yeo’s side already looking odds-on to claim a place in their fourth continental semi-final, and first since the 2003 tournament.
Korea Republic began the rout after just four minutes as Ji opened the scoring with the first shot of the game as the striker drove a low effort past Mya Phu Ngon and into the left-hand corner from 20-yards out.
Relentless pressure on the Myanmar goal continued as Mya Phu Ngon was forced into save after save in the opening quarter of an hour.
But as early as 16 minutes her one-woman defiance was broken as Kim Hye-ri’s cross from the right was adjudged to have hit the hand of Phu Pwint Khaing and Park Eun-sun converted the resulting spot-kick via the inside of the right-hand post.
Shortly after the half-hour mark, Park Hee-young made it three after she broke the offside trap and surged into the penalty area before slotting Korea Republic’s third goal underneath the diving Mya Phu Ngon.
Myanmar conceded a second penalty just two minutes later as Ji was brought down inside the area by a clumsy challenge and the forward stepped up to take the penalty herself, sending Mya Phu Ngon the wrong way.
Midfielder Jeon netted her side’s fifth with a composed finished from inside the penalty area before Park Eun-sun scored her second and, the pick of the first-half tally, with a superlative chip over Mya Phu Ngon from just inside the penalty area.
And with virtually the last kick of the half Korea Republic captain Cho made it seven with a low strike from distance.
Myanmar started the second-half looking to restore some pride and the Southeast Asian team were much more adventurous from the outset and for a time pegged back Korea.
However, their red-clad opponents made the score 8-0 shortly after the hour-mark as Park Hee-young’s attempted cross was handled inside the penalty area for a third spot-kick of the night that Kwon confidently slammed home.
Cho completed her brace on 65 minutes with a close-range finish from Jeon’s corner and the provider became finisher four minutes later as Jeon got on the end of Park Hee-young’s cross to take Korea Republic’s lead to double digits.
Park Hee-young was involved again for the 11th goal as her run to the byline ended with a deft chipped pass that second-half substitute Yeo buried with a firm header.
And with five minutes of the tie remaining, Cho finished off the scoring with a spectacular long-range strike to complete her hat-trick.