Korea Republic lift East Asian Cup
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| AFP |
Korea Republic were victorious at the Men's East Asian Cup after drawing with Korea DPR in Wuhan, China.
Hosts China PR had a chance to lift the trophy had they beaten Japan later in the day, but were only able to achieve a 1-1 draw, leaving them in second place. Korea Republic and Korea DPR played out a goalless draw during the penultimate match of the four-team tournament.
Korea DPR spent most of the first half on the defensive, with the Republic keeping possession without finding a finishing touch, as DPR goalkeeper Ri Myong-Guk made several spectacular saves. It was a similar story in the second half as the South Koreans won their third East Asian Cup title, and first since 2008.
Japan finished the tournament as the only winless team, scoring two points in three games after a 2-1 opening defeat to Korea DPR and a 1-1 draw with Korea Republic.
"We played quite a good game, we played well enough to win," Japanese coach Vahid Halilhodzic told Japan's Kyodo news agency. "We would have won the competition had we arrived here two or three days earlier. We have many problems and we'll try to solve them," he said.
Korea DPR won the women's edition of the East Asian Cup yesterday, sealing it with a 2-0 win over Korea Republic.