Nanjing: DPR Korea bounced back from their agonising opening-day defeat to Japan by thumping Korea Republic 4-0 at the AFC U-16 Women's Championship on Saturday.

Hwang Yong-bong's team conceded in the final seconds to lose 1-0 to Japan, having wasted several chances to take the lead.

But they more than made amends at the Jiangning Sports Centre with a classy display.

Ri Un-sim scored twice, while Ri Kyong-hyang and U Sol-gyong were also on target as Korea Republic were torn apart by the pace and strength of their opponents' attack.

Victory over their rivals also put DPR Korea right back in the hunt for a top-three finish in the six-team round-robin tournament which would earn them a place at next year's FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup.

Both sides began cautiously, with neither wanting to give anything away in the early stages.

But DPR Korea broke the deadlock in the 21st minute when the ball broke to Ri Kyong-hyang on the left edge of the area and she curled an effort into the near top corner.

Korea Republic striker Kim So-yi netted twice in her side's opening 4-0 win over Australia and had a golden chance to equalise here. But, with time and space, she placed a weak shot too close to Rim Yong-hwa when one-on-one with the goalkeeper, who parried the ball away.

Rim then had to be alert to tip a free-kick from deep over the bar when it threatened to bounce over her head and into the net.

But DPR Korea doubled their lead four minutes before the break when Ri Un-sim stabbed home a low cross from the right from close range.

Korea Republic made a double substitution at the break in a bid to find a way back into the match.

But they were still getting no change out of a very well-organised DPR Korea backline.

Kim almost fashioned a chance out of nothing when she collected a long ball and, with no support, held off a defender and fashioned a shooting chance before firing a shot over the top.

But DPR Korea put the result beyond doubt in the 65th minute when U knocked the ball home after Ri Hyang-sim's shot was well saved by the legs of the South Korean keeper.

And three became four seven minutes later as Ri Un-sim nicked the ball past the last defender and slid a low shot into the corner to complete a convincing victory.

Hwang takes heart at DPR Korea display
 

Nanjing: DPR Korea coach Hwang Yong-bong was delighted to see his team take their chances as they hammered Korea Republic 4-0 at the AFC U-16 Women's Championship on Saturday.

DPR Korea bounced back from their opening-day loss to Japan by putting in a classy display at the Jiangning Sports Centre with two goals in each half.

Ri Un-sim scored twice, while Ri Kyong-hyang and U Sol-gyong were also on target as Hwang's side's superior pace and power was evident.

"I am happy to see how well the players did and that makes me very satisfied," the coach said.

"All the goals came from how I had asked the players to play and we made the most of our chances. That's the most pleasing thing about the win."

DPR Korea conceded in the final seconds to lose 1-0 to Japan, having earlier wasted several good chances to have put the game to bed.

And Hwang was pleased his players did not make the same mistakes again.

He added: "The most different thing about this game as how much attention the players paid to their play.

"I am sorry about the Japan game because we were so unlucky and wasted many chances to score because of mistakes at the crucial moment.

"This time we made the right decisions at key times and that was the difference.

"We were not too disappointed by the loss against Japan. I trusted the players and the players trusted me."

Korea Republic beat Australia 4-0 in their opening match, striker Kim So-yi scoring twice, but she did not see much of the ball here as her team was overrun in midfield.

Coach Jeung Young-sam revealed he started with a more defensive strategy for this game and admitted it backfired.

"For the first half we were just concentrating on defence," he said.

"We prepared differently to how we did for the match against Australia to focus more on defending.

"I think maybe that was a little bit of a mistake.

"There is not much positive you can say about this match, although we did do better in the second half because at half-time we reverted back to the tactics we had used against Australia."

Jeung insisted, however, he had been right to experiment tactically, even if it did not pay off this time, claiming his team would have to adapt to different ways of playing throughout the competition.

"For the coming matches we want to try out lots of different kinds of strategies so I don't regret doing it," he said.

"It was something we had to try out."