S Korea gives Cha winning send-off
Print Edition
SUBSTITUTE Lee Jae-sung steered home a late winner as South Korea beat New Zealand 1-0 in a friendly yesterday to give veteran defender Cha Du-ri a winning send-off into retirement.
The Koreans labored to a 1-1 draw with Uzbekistan on Friday and were keen to go into 2018 World Cup qualifiers with victory over New Zealand which was unbeaten in the group stage of the 2010 World Cup but has tumbled to 134th in the FIFA rankings.
Son Heung-min had a first-half penalty saved by New Zealand goalkeeper Stefan Marinovic who pulled off a string of quality stops to deny the hosts.
Jeonbuk forward Lee, who made his debut against the Uzbeks, got the breakthrough four minutes from time when he pounced on a loose ball to score after Marinovic had saved from Kim Bo-kyung.
The players rushed to the sidelines to celebrate with Cha who announced his retirement from the national team after Korea’s defeat by Australia in the Asian Cup final but was asked to play one more game for the home fans to show their appreciation.
Cha, a member of Guus Hiddink’s squad that made the 2002 World Cup semis, captained the side and gave a typically robust performance before being substituted in the 43rd minute.
In Tokyo‚ Japan scored four goals in the second half yesterday to beat Uzbekistan 5-1 and win its second straight game under coach Vahid Halilhodzic.
Toshihiro Aoyama put the hosts ahead with a shot from 30 meters in the seventh minute.
In the second half, Shinji Okazaki, Gaku Shibasaki, Takashi Usami and Kenga Kawamata scored to complete the rout.
Halilhodzic, who guided Algeria to the last 16 of the World Cup last year, took over from Mexican Javier Aguirre last month.
Japan beat Tunisia 2-0 in Halilhodzic’s debut on Friday.
In Beijing, China scored deep into injury time to rally for a 1-1 draw with Tunisia yesterday.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
