South Korea extended its 30-year no-defeat streak against China as it beat the host 3-2 at the opening match of the third East Asian Football Championship (EAFC) in Chongqing, Southwest China on Sunday.

 

 

Since the 1-0 loss to S. Korea at the Bangkok Asian Games in 1978, the Chinese men footballers of both national and Olympic teams have never tasted the winning joy against the "Tiger of Asia" in a series of international events up to now.

 

S. Korea has achieved a proud record of 15 wins and 11 draws in their last 26 clashes, winning a widespread nickname "the symptom of dreading S.Korea" among the Chinese broken-hearted soccer fans.

 

This time, as EAFC defending champion, China is in preparation for the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. In early February, it managed to snatch one crucial point from Asian champion Iraq in the first qualifier. However, Chinese play-maker and captain Zheng Zhi didn't return from Charlton of England for this tournament.

 

Though with the absence of many overseas experienced players, South Korea is aiming to take back its leading position in East Asia by winning the third EAFC title with coach Huh Jung Mao, who took the job after Dutch Pim Verbeek's resignation last year.

 

As the first EAFC winner, South Korea failed to be crowned for the second time in a row at home in 2005 with disappointing results of two draws and one loss.

 

In today's match, South Korea opened the scoring in the 43rd minute when 23-year-old forward Park Chu Young gave the lead for the visitors with a looping header inside the far post from a curve well-placed side cross.

 

After strategic adjustment under chief coach Ratomir Dujkovic and head coach Vladimir Petrovic, the Chinese players seemed to find the rhyme of match and fight back to gain the momentum of the early second half.

 

Chinese leading midfielder Zhou Haibing equalized for the home side with a superb long shot after the Korean defenders failed to clear the corner far away in the 47th.

 

Thirteen minutes later, China's right midfielder Wang Dong's free kick set up Liu Jian to overtake the lead with a powerful header.

 

However, the joy of the fanatic 30,000 home spectators only lasted for five minutes as the visitors showed their stamina and fighting spirit to equalize the score with a direct free kick by Park Chu young. In the injury time, the Korean made the last hit with a curve shot in the far corner and held the 3-2 score to the whistle.

 

"We performed much better in the second half today, however the result is depressing. But the football is always like this. I've played in the national team for 10 years and I never gave up. The most important thing is that we should learn experience for the second World Cup qualifier against Australia on March 26," said Chinese captain and center back Li Weifeng after the match.

 

China's head coach Petrovic thought the 30-year-no-win jinx gave his players too much pressure. "It's a pity that we lost the third goal due to our defender's problem. I think the pressure affects players' performance a lot. However, we have achieved the goal of gaining experience as we played very well in the second half."

 

"It's S. Korea's victory of 27th match against China today. I felt satisfied with our young players' performance as they showed their confidence when they were one goal behind," Huh Jung Mao said at the press conference after the match.

 

The third East Asian Football Championship opened officially at the Olympic Center Sunday afternoon, wherein top four teams of the region: host China, DPR Korea, Japan and South Korea are competing for the title in a round-robin format.

 

(Xinhua News Agency February 18, 2008)