Sydney: DPR Korea coach Jo Tong-sop believes his team can still advance to the last eight of the AFC Asian Cup Australia 2015 despite losing 1-0 in their opening game against Uzbekistan at Stadium Australia on Saturday.

Igor Sergeev scored the only goal of the game to give Uzbekistan the perfect start to their campaign while leaving DPR Korea chasing victory in their next game against Saudi Arabia to reignite their challenge for a place in the knockout rounds.

“For this match today we really wanted to win, but I thought that the Uzbekistan team was very good and they showed their ability,” said Jo, who led his nation at the finals of the FIFA World Cup in South Africa in 2010.

“For our team, I don’t think we showed our ability to the fullest today and if we had done a little better we could have won.

“We still have two more matches in the group stages, so we still have a chance (to reach the quarter-finals) and we don’t want to miss it.

“Many of the teams here are very strong, stronger than us. We will have to concentrate all our power on each and every match because that’s the only way for us to overcome each stage of the competition.”

DPR Korea were second-best for much of the game, but a last-ditch header from Pak Kwang-ryong almost earned Jo’s team a point only for Ignatiy Nesterov to deny the Liechtenstein-based striker with a reflex save that kept the scores level.

“In the last minute, I thought we were really unfortunate but the result is the result,” said Jo.

“We would like to convert our chances and go forward and attack a little bit more, because then we could create more chances than we did this time.”

Jo conceded that his defensive tactics were unable to yield the result he had hoped for when selecting his team.
“Before the match we had planned to concentrate on defending and then counter-attack to score and win the game,” he said. “But even though in the middle of the match, we gave away one goal, I still wanted to keep this strategy but it didn’t work very well.”

Sconfitta nella prima gara della Coppa d’Asia per la Corea Popolare che incappa in un forte Uzbekistan. Decide una rete dell’attaccante del Pakhtakor Igor Sergeev al 62esimo minuto.
Jo Tong-Sop manda in campo i suoi con un 4-5-1: Ri Myong-Guk fra i pali, difesa composta da Cha Jong-Hyok a destra, Jon Kwang-Ik a sinistra e coppia centrale formata da Jang Song-Hyok e Jang Kuk-Chol. A centrocampo il gioco è in mano a Pak Song-Chol e Ri Jong-Jik, mentre sugli esterni ci sono Jong Il-Gwan e Ryang Yong-Gi. So Hyon-uk agisce da trequartista alle spalle di Pak Kwang-Ryong.
Gli uzbeki rispondo con una formazione speculare, con la stella Djeparov alle spalle dell’unica punta Sergeev.
Primo tempo soporifero, con leggera predominanza dei centroasiatici.
Il secondo tempo, giocato per gran parte sotto un diluvio, vede gli uzbeki più intraprendenti e i coreani impegnati più a distruggere il gioco avversario che a proporsi dalle parti di Nesterov.
Proprio sull’asse Djeparov-Sergeev nasce il gol uzbeko: Cross del capitano e incornata della punta. Ri Myong-Guk non può nulla.
La reazione coreana è sterile e gli avversari hanno più occasioni per segnare il gol del doppio vantaggio.
Tutto però si decide all’ultimo secondo: angolo battuto da Pak Song-Chol, incornata perfetta di Pak Kwang-Ryong che però non riesce ad angolare troppo e miracolo di Nesterov.
Con un atteggiamento più aggressivo i coreani si giocheranno il passaggio del turno nelle prossime due gare con Arabia Saudita e Cina.

By John Donegan
Sydney’s Korean community will unite as the national football teams from both North and South take part in the Asian Cup, which gets underway on Friday night.

Both North and South Korea qualified for the showpiece Asian football event, and Sydneysider Kuan Le has organised a supporters’ group that will barrack for both teams regardless of which side of the border they are from.

Mr Le, a South Korean who now lives in the Sydney suburb of Ryde, said he and his group would support both teams with equal enthusiasm.

“My family is from the south, but we as Koreans support any sports event from north or south,” he told 702 ABC Sydney.

Mr Le is ensuring plenty of support for the North Koreans and will take at least 20 family and friends to the game with him to emphasise that there will be no North-South divide at any of the matches.

North Korea’s first match will be on Saturday against Uzbekistan in Sydney, while the highly fancied South Korea will face Oman also in Sydney on Saturday.

North and South Korea to receive united support

“Korea will be united in the stands,” Mr Le said.

“The whole family, my daughter’s boyfriend and some Australian friends [are going to the game].”

Mr Le has printed an image of the Korean Peninsula on white T-shirts to ensure there is no mistake about who they support.

“Maybe this is the first step to unification,” Mr Le said.

“Like Paul Kelly says, ‘from little things, big things grow’.”

North Korea, ranked 12th in the 16-team competition, will need plenty of support in their match against the fourth-ranked Uzbekistan.

The team, at the time managed by Yun Jong-Su, qualified for the tournament after beating Turkmenistan in the 2012 Asian Football Confederation Challenge Cup.

Jo Tong-sop has taken over management of the team and will look to European players Pak Kwang-ryong and Cha Jong-hyok to lead the young side.

Photo: Kuan Le with his multicultural mix of North Korean supporters (from left) Stefan Kinsky, Daniel Borsic, Sam Owusu-Ansah and Kay Le. (702 ABC Sydney: John Donegan)