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| South Korea's footballers acknowledge their supporters after receiving their second place medals at the end of the final with Ukraine in the U-20 World Cup in Lodz, Poland, Saturday. Yonhap |
By John Duerden
It was so close yet so far for South Korea at the U-20 World Cup as the team lost 3-1 to Ukraine in the final in the Polish city of Lodz on Saturday local time.
The youngsters took an early lead but were unable to hold on to it to become the first Asian men's team to win a world trophy.
It was still a fine effort from all involved just to get to that stage. But in the end Ukraine was just a little too strong and those back home who stayed up into the early hours to watch the game went back to bed, or not, satisfied that Korea had done all it could.
It started very well. After just five minutes, captain Hwang Tae-hyun was brought down. There was some dispute as to whether it was inside the area or not, but Lee Kang-in made no mistake with the penalty. Lee has been the best Korean player in Poland and this was his second goal. It could have set the team on the way to glory but it was not to be.
From there the game settled down but Ukraine always posed a danger, especially on the counterattack. Korea had chances but lacked ideas and incision. The Asian team was punished just after the half-hour stage.
Sehrii Bluetsa's free kick was not cleared by the men in red and Vladyslav Supriaha was on hand to score from close range. At the break it was anyone's game. But eight minutes after the restart, the same player found himself in a one-on-one situation with Lee Gwang-yeon and scored to put Ukraine in the lead.
Korea pushed forward as you would expect with the trophy on the line and that left more holes at the back. Just a minute from the end, Heorhii Tsitaishvili picked up the ball inside his own half and started a run. It ended with him scoring the goal that ensured Ukraine, a team that had never before progressed past the last 16, took the trophy.
Boss Chung Jung-yong paid tribute to his players. "They gave all they could and I want to thank them and all those who watched back home. I am just sorry that we could not win the game."
It was a painful experience for the Korean team to watch as the Ukrainians were crowned champions of the world. But it will be a valuable one. There has been much to savor in the past few weeks. This is a team that defeated South Africa, Argentina, Japan, Senegal and Ecuador to get to the final.
While Lee Kang-in gets the headlines, and the Golden Ball award for best player in the tournament, the likes of Lee Ji-sol, Cho Young-wook and Lee Gwang-yeon did themselves and the country proud.
