South Korea Beats Poland 2-0 for First-ever World Cup Win

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, June 05, 2002

South Korea Beats Poland 2-0 for First-ever World Cup Win

World Cup co-hosts South Korea notched up their first-ever World Cup win with a convincing 2-0 victory over Poland in their opening Group D game on Tuesday.

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World Cup co-hosts South Korea notched up their first-ever World Cup win with a convincing 2-0 victory over Poland in their opening Group D game on Tuesday.

Veterans Hwang Sun-hong and Yoo Sang-chul each scored a goal togive the country the first win which they failed to achieve in 17 previous matches in five appearances in the World Cup finals.

"First of all, for Korean football, it was a very historical game. It is the first time in the World Cup that South Korea has won a game. For that, people and I are very happy." head coach Guus Hiddink said after the match.

"The team has gone one step forward in the last 2-3 months. There were hard work, and a lot of commitment from the players. Wehave played one of the strongest teams in Europe, which is Poland.And I believe we deserved this win."

Cheered on by a packed crowd at the Busan Asiad Stadium which included President Kim Dae-jung, the South Koreans dominated the game from the outset and took the lead in the 26th minute through Hwang.

The 34-year-old veteran slotted home a low left-foot volley after Lee Eul-yong played a perfectly-weighted ball in from the left wing.

South Korea could have doubled the lead as Yoo drove a shot past goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek after 30 minutes but his effort was disallowed for offside.

But Yoo netted again eight minutes after the interval with a ferocious cracker just outside the box, which flew into the net after touching Polish goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek's hands.

The Poles, who only lost one game in ten qualifiers, could not look to Duek to hold off the suffocating attacks from opponents.

"It was very difficult. The host in the first game is strong. They were very aggressive. They were better than us. Korea managedto organize unfortunately, we must move on." said Polish coach Jerzy Engel.

Just three minutes into the game, Poland's Nigerian-born striker Emmanuel Olisadebe created a good chance for Jacek Krzynowek only to see the Nuremberg midfielder skewed his shot wide of goal.

Twelve minutes from time, substitute Ahn Jung Hwan almost made it 3-0 but his powerful drive was well saved by Duek.

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