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| South Korea's Ji So Yun (R) fights for the ball with China's Wu Haiyan during the Women's Soccer Four-nation Invitation Tournament in southwest China's Chongqing, Jan. 16, 2013. China won 2-0. (Xinhua/Chen Cheng) |
YONGCHUAN, Chongqing, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) -- China beat South Korea 2-0 to win the first match in the Women's Soccer Four-nation Invitation Tournament here on Wednesday, following two defeats to Canada 1-0 and Norway 1-0 in the first two rounds.
China continued its pressing style in the opening minutes but failed to find the net. In the 11th minute, China's Wang Lisi left-footed a curl shot on target but the ball was collected by South Korea's keeper Kim Jung Mi. Nine minutes later, South Korea fought back through a tactical corner kick but missed the goal. In the 27th minute, China's Li Ying, a 20-year-old promising forward, fired a right-foot shot, which was above the crossbar.
In the 63th minute, China's Zhang Rui collected a free kick and converted it into goal, which was also the first goal for China in the tournament. Only one minute later, Zhou Feifei penetrated into the penalty area from the left side and made a cross, with which South Korea's defender Lee Eun Mi scored an own goal.
Now the record between China and South Korea was refreshed to 25 wins, four draws and three losses in favor of China.
"Today we did a good job but we could have done better. My team was under great pressure today because we lost twice in the first rounds," said China's head coach Hao Wei in a post-match press conference.
"Young players' performance was beyond my expectations, such as Zhou Feifei, " added Hao.
Yoon Duk Yeo, head coach of South Korea, gave high praise to China. "They have stronger desire to win. I hope we can do better in the East Asian Cup later this year when we meet China again," he said.
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