2002 FIFA World Cup (tm) Finals - Results & Fixtures - Korea Republic vs Poland

4 Jun 2002


Korea Republic	2 - 0	Poland
	(HT: 1 - 0)

Game Details
Venue Busan Asiad Main Stadium	Attendance 48760
Referee Oscar Ruiz (COL) Assistant Referees Elise Domiri (VAN) Leif Lindberg (SWE)

Game Events
#	Date	Player	Event	Period	Mins	H/A
1	4 Jun 2002	Hwang Sun-Hong	Goal	First Half	26	H
2	4 Jun 2002	Jacek Krzynowek	Yellow Card	First Half	31	A
3	4 Jun 2002	Maciej Zurawski	Player Out	Second Half	1	A
4	4 Jun 2002	Pawel Kryszalowicz	Substitute In	Second Half	1	A
5	4 Jun 2002	Hwang Sun-Hong	Player Out	Second Half	5	H
6	4 Jun 2002	Ahn Jung-Hwan	Substitute In	Second Half	5	H
7	4 Jun 2002	Jacek Bak	Player Out	Second Half	5	A
8	4 Jun 2002	Tomasz Klos	Substitute In	Second Half	5	A
9	4 Jun 2002	Yoo Sang-Chul	Goal	Second Half	8	H
10	4 Jun 2002	Yoo Sang-Chul	Player Out	Second Half	16	H
11	4 Jun 2002	Lee Chun-Soo	Substitute In	Second Half	16	H
12	4 Jun 2002	Radoslaw Kaluzny	Player Out	Second Half	19	A
13	4 Jun 2002	Marcin Zewlakow	Substitute In	Second Half	19	A
14	4 Jun 2002	Park Ji-Sung	Yellow Card	Second Half	25	H
15	4 Jun 2002	Tomasz Hajto	Yellow Card	Second Half	34	A
16	4 Jun 2002	Piotr Swierczewski	Yellow Card	Second Half	39	A
17	4 Jun 2002	Seol Ki-Hyeon	Player Out	Second Half	44	H
18	4 Jun 2002	Cha Doo-Ri	Substitute In	Second Half	44	H
19	4 Jun 2002	Cha Doo-Ri	Yellow Card	Second Half	45	H

Match report

An ecstatic South Korea finally exorcised its World Cup demons after 48 years and 15 games with an emphatic 2-0 Group D victory over Poland. With deafening encouragement from 53,000 drum-banging Koreans in the Busan Asiad Stadium, Guus Hiddink's Red Devils ran Poland ragged, sparking wild celebrations. Korea opened aggressively and it paid dividends in the 26th minute when Hwang Sun-Hong executed a sweet left-foot volley after Lee Eul-Yong played a perfectly-weighted ball in from the left flank. Hwang's Kashiwa Reysol teammate Yoo Sang-Chul made it 2-0 after 53 minutes when he weaved around two defenders and fired a powerful right-foot shot past the outstretched arms of Liverpool goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek.
"First of all, this is a historic game for Korea," said Hiddink, the first non-Korean to take charge of the team.
"This game is a step forward from the last two or three months.
"The players have worked hard and this victory was their reward. It wasn't just about the goals but the concept of the way they played. They attacked from the first minutes and I'm very proud of them," added Hiddink, who coached the Netherlands at France '98.
South Korea are playing in their sixth World Cup, stretching back to 1954, but until Tuesday they had never tasted victory, losing 10 and drawing four. They will now consider themselves in with a real chance of making the second round. Group D favourites Portugal may prove a hard nut to crack but they will fancy their chances against the United States. And the win was a welcome shot in the arm for Asian football after China's 2-0 loss to Costa Rica Tuesday and Japan's 2-2 draw with Belgium. Poland coach Jerzy Engels said before the match the partisan crowd would effectively give the Koreans an extra man and they took full advantage of the home support. In the past Korea have had a tendency to sit back and not move forward but they showed plenty of attacking guile, creating countless chances as Poland wilted under the pressure. What set Korea apart was their physical strength, speed of their forwards and a much-improved defence. Captain and veteran defender Hong Myung-Bo, playing in his fourth World Cup, was a rock at the back and kept dangerous Nigerian-born striker Emmanuel Olisadebe at bay. While Korea accelerated the Poles, returning to the finals after a 16-year absence and considered one of the best Polish sides in years, seemed overawed by the occasion and couldn't move out of first gear.
Engel acknowledged Korea were the stronger team.
"They were better than us. I can't complain. It's no accident that they drew with England and gave France a good game. Now we have to try to target second place and it will be very difficult," he said.
"Portugal are the strongest team but Korea can hurt anyone."
A despondent Olisadebe said Poland would have to grit their teeth and get on with it.
"We have a lot of work to do," he said. "Our defence needs to tighten up, but life goes on and it's not the end of the World Cup for us."
Korea could have easily have won by more. Hwang, a veteran of the 1994 finals, got the ball rolling with his tremendous strike -- his 50th international goal in his 98th appearance for his country. They should have increased their lead on the half-hour, but Yoo was offside as he fired past Dudek. He made no mistake eight minutes after the restart, burying a right-foot drive beyond the despairing Dudek's flailing fingertips. The South Koreans continued unleashing waves of attacks and little was seen of the Polish front line. Olisadebe, who scored eight times in the qualifiers, looked lively early, but never got a look in after that. Despite making two substitutions in quick succession the Poles, who lost just one of 10 qualifiers, refused to come out of their shell and it was Korea who kept pressing for a momentous victory.

(courtesy of dailysoccer)




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Page created by Christakis Ioannou on 4 June 2002 23:12:25.