 South Korean midfielder Yoon Bitgaram, left, celebrates after converting a penalty against Jordan in the first-leg of a second round preliminary qualifying match for the 2012 Olympics at Seoul World Cup Stadium, Sunday. / Yonhap |
South Korea’s Olympic team beat Jordan 3-1 in the first-leg of its second round preliminary qualifying match for the 2012 Olympics, Sunday.
At Seoul World Cup Stadium in front of over 30,000 home fans, the visitors netted first but the Koreans hit back with three goals in the second half.
Kim Tae-hwan tied the game in the 54th minute and then generated a penalty, which was finished by Yoon Bitgaram to give the home side the lead. Kim Dong-sub’s header also found the net to put the final nail in the coffin.
During the first half, the hosts failed to impress, seeking to make perfect chances in front of the penalty box rather than attempting to shoot.
To make matters worse, many of their passes were errant and one finally allowed Jordan to score.
In stoppage time in the first half, a cross field pass in home territory was intercepted by Mahmoud Saleem Mahmoud Zatara who made it to the front of the box before his shot found the left corner of the net for a 1-0 lead.
Korea began to counterattack in the second half.
A cross from the left found Kim in Jordan’s penalty box and he buried a left footed low shot into the corner of the net.
Just over 20 minutes later Kim penetrated into the box between defenders, but was fouled leading the referee to point to the spot in the 75th minute. Yoon made sure of his shot to give Korea a 2-1 lead.
In the 85th minute Yoon’s free kick found Kim dong-sub who headed in for a convincing win.
Korea will visit Jordan on June 23 for the second-leg of the match.
The two-leg knock-out second preliminary round features 24 Asian countries with only 12 advancing to the final preliminaries. There they are divided into three groups with the winner of each automatically qualifying for the Olympics.
The three runners-up then play off against each other with the winner facing a runner-up African team for the final place in London.
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