Korea Falls 0-2 to Netherlands in Friendly Match
By Kang Seung-woo
Staff Reporter
South Korea's national football team fell to the Netherlands 0-2 Saturday in a grudge match nine years after a 5-0 disgrace at the 1998 U.S. World Cup.
In a friendly match at Seoul World Cup Stadium, Hamburg SV midfielder Rafael van der Vaart fired home twice to lift Holland over Dutch Pim Verbeek's side. It was for Korea a preparation for the Asian Cup in July.
Verbeek blamed the K-League for its congested schedule.
``I can't believe that the K-League scheduled a cup semifinal three days before the national team play,'' Verbeek said.
``It's stupid, disrespectful and bad for Korean football.''
By losing the match, South Korea records two losses against the world No. 6 Netherlands. The Korean team has posted three victories and four losses with two draws under the Dutch coach while the ``Oranje squad'' has extended its lossless streak with seven wins and three ties since the Germany World Cup.
In addition, the South Korean team has failed to win in the past five matches at Seoul World Cup Stadium with three losses and two draws.
South Korea went with a 4-3-3 formation, fielding Jo Jae-jin of Shinizu S-Pulse, Lee Chun-soo of Ulsan Tigers and Yeom Ki-hun of Chonbuk Motors as forwards.
From the beginning, the European team, which leads Group G at the qualifying round of the Euro2008, attacked Korea's area with mid-range shots by Andwele Slory and Wesley Sneijder.
Korea started striking back nine minutes into the first half.
Lee Chun-soo, 25, had a free kick, which went directly into the mitts of goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg, and 18 minutes later, the attacker, who is under negotiation with English Premier League's Fullham, fired a low shot to the left corner of the post, only to be deflected by the diving goalkeeper.
Nagoya Grampus midfielder Kim Jung-woo, a replacement of injured Park Ji-sung, also joined forces with Lee in threatening the Dutch side but fell short of connecting with a goal.
It was in the 31st minute that van der Vaart opened the scoring.
When SBV Excelsior forward Slory faced goalkeeper Lee Woon-jae 1-on-1 in the penalty box, defender Kim Dong-jin brought him down from behind.
The 23-year-old midfielder converted on the penalty to make it 1-0.
What's worse, forward Jo was injured to be carried off after a collision while competing for the ball in the 41st.
In the second half, Verbeek fielded Woo Sung-yong, Oh Bum-seok and Son Dae-ho to even the game.
Yeom Ki-hoon's left-footed shot was parried off the end of goalie's foot in the fiftieth and Lee Chun-soo's free kick on the front of the arch evaded the post.
Korea prevailed during the second half with several chances but could not complete them.
Rather, Korea allowed a counterattack 26 minutes into the second half.
Mario Melchiot crossed on the right flank, which landed into unmarked van der Vaart. He tapped it home to seal the triumph.
After the game, Dutch coach Van Basten, the FIFA World Player of the year in 1992, spoke well of Korean teams' performances.
``They have good technical skills, press well and they tried to attack,'' he said.
``With a little more confidence they can do a good job in the Asian Cup.''
Verbeek was also satisfied with his team's play, saying, ``In the first half, we had problems with the way the Dutch built from the back, we are not used to that in Korea.''
He added: ``But in the second half we were much batter and I was expecting us to equalize instead of falling two goals behind.''
South Korea will have two more matches with Iraq on June 29 and Uzbekistan on July 5 before participating in the Asian Cup.