South Korea, China Kick off Asian Games with Victories

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Saturday, September 28, 2002

South Korea, China Kick off Asian Games with Victories

No matter it is the World Cup or not, red-shirted soccer fans of South Korea were cheering, shouting and banging drums just as it were the World Cup semifinals three months ago.

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No matter it is the World Cup or not, red-shirted soccer fans of South Korea were cheering, shouting and banging drums just as it were the World Cup semifinals three months ago.

South Korea, fielding only four World Cup players, beat Maldives 4-0 in their opening Asian Games soccer tournaments group A qualifier, with thousands of faithful "red devils" yelling for 90 minutes.

"Dae-han Min Kuk"(Republic of Korea), screamed the South Korean crowd as Choi Tae Uk opened the scoring on just six minutes.

Goals from Park Dong Hyuk in the 45th minute and Lee Dong Gook on 60 minutes extended the lead to 3-0 over the opponent and substitute Kim Eun Jung, the World Cup player, sealed the victory with its fourth goal just before the time.

South Korea was ranked 21st in the FIFA standings after its brilliant fourth-place finish at the World Cup - the best outcome ever by an Asian Games.

Maldives, which is 131 places lower than the rivals in FIFA rankings, fought bravely but get few chance to open the score.

"We are happy to win the opener. Players are in a good mood,"said head coach Park Hang-seo.

"We will win the gold medal by all means to meet our people's expectations," added Park.

In another match of Group A, Oman beat Malaysia 1-0 through a second-half goal by Taqi Mubarak Marhoon Al Siyabi.

While in Group C, China whitewashed Turkmenistan 4-0 and India outplayed Bangladesh 3-0.

Chinese midfielder Xu Liang opened the scoring with an 22-meter free-kick in the 14th minute and Yan Song doubled China's advantages by volleying home in the 38th before Wang extended China's lead by a 24-meter powerful shot on 58 minutes.

In the second half China was awarded a penalty shot after Yu Tao was brought down in the box but his team mate Zhang Yaokun missed the shot.

Sun Xiang's volley on 82 minutes sealed China's 4-0 win over Turkmenistan.

Turkmenistan fought bravely but rarely came close to scoring.

"Our players had a fantastic match. I am satisfied with their performance," said Chinese head coach Shen Xiangfu.

Peter Velappan, the secretary general of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) said that China played wonderfully.

"It's the future of China, "said Velappan, "they are good physically and technically."

"the result of 4-0 can prove it that China's U-21 team are really strong. They just need more international experience." added Velappan.

In the two matches of Group B, United Arab Emirates was held by Vietnam scoreless and Thailand blanked Yemen 3-0.

Source: Xinhua News Agency

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