Quarter-final Far Away

The Korean Woman`s football team suffered a crushing defeat by Brazil, realizing solidly the high level.

Korea played against Brazil in the first game of seed B for 2003 US Women`s World Cup held in Washington DC RFK Stadium on the 22nd. Two consecutive goals were allowed to Brazil strikers Marta and Katia, losing the game 0-3.

Korea was expecting a tie game in the outset, but with the defeat, the team must win the game against France held at the same place on the 25th to advance to the semi finals.

Korea lost its organized play during the game, being dragged by Brazil throughout the match. Brazil presented excellent offense, but with somewhat loose defense. However, it was still tough for the Korean team that has participated in the World Cup stage for the first time.

Lee Ji-eun and Park Eun-seon were the two tops and Kim Gyeol-shil the playmaker in the first half with strong pressure on the midfield. However, Kim Gyeol-shil allowed a penalty kick to Marta with a handling foul after 14 minutes.

The absurd mistake handed over the initiative to the opponent and many goal chances were allowed to Katia, the striker. The goal keeper put up good defenses to pass away the crisis.

The Korean players were even more withered and Brazil did not miss the chance. After 10 minutes in the second half, while the Korean players were absentminded with the referee`s whistle, last year`s best goal getter in WUSA Katia made a diagonal shot from the right side of the penalty area to score another goal. One little blind spot resulted in another point loss. Katia then scored another one, shooting the long pass from Simon only 7 minutes later.

Korea failed to score the first goal in the World Cup as striker Park Eun-seon`s first shooting after 25 minutes in the first half with her back to the defender and another shot in the second half were both blocked by the goalkeeper.

Manager Ahn Jong-gwan said, “The play wasn`t progressing properly. The midfielders had a hard time not being able to secure the area, with Brazil having almost full possession of the game.”

In the match of seed A, previous champion USA defeated Sweden 3-1, the best star Mia Hamm marking 3 assists alone. China also won the game against Ghana 1-0, the goal scored by last championship MVP Sun Wen. Russia beat Australia 2-1.

▽ Record on the 22nd

△Seed A △Seed B

USA 3-1 Sweden, Brazil 3-0 Korea

△Seed D

China 1-0 Ghana, Russia 2-1 Australia

Sang-Ho Kim hyangsan@donga.com