Comments by Korea, Japan baseball Managers

Manager Kim Euong-Yong of Korea: I think that my boys did their best to achieve a good result because a loss today would have foiled our advancement to the final tournament. They worked really hard because this was the last chance. Frankly, I was surprised that we scored four runs in the first inning off Matsuzaka.

Before the game, I thought we would be able to score about three runs and would win the game if our pitchers allowed three runs or less. The batters were well accustomed to fast balls as they met pitchers with speeds of around 150km from the United States and Cuba in the preliminaries.

Manager Kojo Odagaki of Japan: Before the game, I thought it would be a lopsided win for one of the two countries. My judgment was that my batters were capable of countering Korean pitchers, but the result was not good. Matsuzaka pitched well.

Pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka of Japan: Korean batters hit very well. I will follow my manager's opinions on my pitching schedule in remaining games.