Korea Loses 1st Game at U20 World Cup
By Yoon Chul
Staff Reporter
South Korea's hopes of advancing to the round of 16 took a big hit as the Hong Myung-bo-managed team lost 2-0 to Cameroon in a Group C match at the FIFA Under-20 World Cup in Egypt, Sunday (KST).
With their next two games coming against Germany and the United States, the South Korean team knew entering the tournament that the match against Cameroon was one they had to win.
South Korea is now third in the group in goal differential after each team has played one game. Germany pounded the United States 3-0 in the other match.
South Korea got the quick start they wanted, as Hong sent out high schooler Choi Sung-keun and three forwards - Lee Seung-yeoul, Cho Young-cheol and Kim Dong-sub - to put offensive pressure on Cameroon.
Just a minute in to the match, a shot by Cho shook the goal posts and gave the team some momentum.
Cameroon got on the board after a mistake by young goalie Lee Young-bum, who attempted to catch a weak shot instead of just punching it away. On the botched play, the ball came to Andre Akono Effa who scored the opening goal.
The goal seemed to deflate the Korean team significantly, until Korean skipper Koo Ja-cheol perked up the young players, trying to motivate them back into the game.
The Koreans had an opportunity for an equalizer in the 35th minute when striker Lee Seung-yeoul had a one-on-one chance in front of the Cameroon goalie after picking up a through pass. But Lee couldn't finish the play and Korea went into the break down a goal.
Hong's side continued to push in the second half but Germain Tiko's goal put them behind by two in the 65th minute.
On a free kick by Cameroon from the right of the arc, the ball came to Olivier Boumale. The midfielder then found Tiko, who managed to get his head on the ball in a crowded box to score the insurance marker.
"I don't want to make any excuses. It was definitely my fault, I admit it. I am really sorry to my teammates," Korean goalkeeper Lee said.
"We have to do our best in the next two games.
"I will do everything I can to help us win," he added.
Lee Seung-yeoul defended his goalkeeper.
"World-class goalies also make mistakes; his mistakes are not the reason for our defeat. The reason we lost is because we can't score goals," Lee said.
Hong said falling behind early was costly.
"The early goal hurt us the most," manager Hong said.
"I didn't expect to lose. We tried to win but we didn't.
"Though the result was bad, my boys really did do their best. I applaud Cameroon.
"Every player knew that the first match was important and it is true that it put pressure on us.
I don't think we could match the skills of Cameroon and their offense was much better than ours," added Hong.
The manager said the team cannot dwell on the loss and must prepare for the next game.
"The most important thing is recovering not just physically but also mentally. If we want to get a couple of good results in the next two matches, we need to be in good condition.."
Korea will meet Germany, one of the tournament favorites, on Tuesday at 11 p.m. (KST).