Korea Crushes UAE 3-1
By Kang Seung-woo
Staff Reporter
South Korea's Olympic football team closed the second qualifying round for the 2008 Beijing Olympics with a 3-1 triumph over the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as forward Lee Keun-ho of Daegu FC showed brilliant displays.
In the final qualifying match, the 21-year-old attacker netted home twice and set up Kim Chang-soo's game-deciding third goal in his first international match to a jubilating crowd at the Daejeon World Cup Stadium despite heavy rain.
With the victory, South Korea, which suffered an unexpected 0-1 defeat to Yemen last month, retrieved its reputation and added three points to establish an unassailable 15-point lead over runner-up Uzbekistan while the UAE finished 2-4 and failed to advance to the next stage.
As of Wednesday, seven teams have qualified for the final round of the qualification for the Beijing Olympics in 2008 _ Japan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, North Korea, Iraq, Kuwait and South Korea.
In the final round, the top 12 teams from the second round will be divided into three groups of four teams and will battle it out for Asia's three allocated slots from Aug. 22 to Nov. 21.
The final round draw will be held on June 13 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
``I will take the match as a process of teambuilding for the final round,'' Pim Verbeek said after Tuesday's practice but unlike his remark, his side strived to dominate the Middle East country.
It was Lee Keun-ho who led the young South Koreans.
The striker, benched in the friendly match against the Netherlands last Saturday, attacked the UAE's side restless from the kick-off.
Seven minutes into the first half, Lee's left-footed volley shot was deflected by the goalkeeper.
Two minutes later, Lee, 21, intercepted a pass and fired a mid-range shot, which evaded the post slightly.
Due to the bad weather, both sides could not play their own game, sometimes committing crucial errors.
In the 32nd minute, Lee, who has recorded six goals in the K-League, the best among Koreans, opened the scoring.
Midfielder Kim Seung-yong of Gwangju Sangmu crossed on the right flank and dashing Lee tapped it home.
Following the goal, the Korean footballers took a few chances but could not complete them.
On entering the second half, Lee scored his second goal of the night.
Three minutes after the second half started, Lee put the pass from defender Kim Chang-soo on the left side into the right corner of the post.
Despite conceding a goal to the opponent in the 71st minute, 10 minutes later, Kim Chang-soo sent a game-deciding curling shot to the right corner, making the goalkeeper helpless.