Soccer: S. Korea spoil Japan's World Cup farewell party+

SAITAMA, Japan, May 24 Kyodo -
South Korea gatecrashed Japan's farewell party for the World Cup with a
comfortable 2-0 win on Monday in a warm-up for the upcoming finals in South
Africa.
Park Ji Sung hit a superb sixth-minute opener to silence the majority of a
crowd of over 57,000 at Saitama Stadium 2002 and substitute Park Chu Young
converted the second from the penalty spot in the first minute of second-half
injury time to complete victory and heap more pressure on under-fire Japan
coach Takeshi Okada.
''The players gave it everything they had but we have lost twice in one year
(to South Korea) and I feel very sorry about that,'' said Okada.
''It is our job to get results and we couldn't do that and I feel responsible.
We just have to move forward and keep believing in ourselves.''
Japan leave in the early hours of Wednesday morning for an Alpine retreat in
Switzerland and Austria for altitude training and further tune-ups against
England on May 30 and Ivory Coast on June 4 before moving on to South Africa.
Okada had ordered Japan to avenge a 3-1 defeat to the South Koreans in February
that very nearly cost him his job but the Blue Samurai were second best in
every department in an entertaining first half.
Park Ji Sung proved a real handful with his pace, passion and panache and the
Manchester United star lashed the opener past Seigo Narazaki from the edge of
the box before wheeling away in delight to taunt the sea of blue-shirted fans
behind the goal.
Kim Jung Woo squandered a decent chance to double the visitors' lead by sending
a free header wide, while Yoshito Okubo was not far off the mark at the other
end with a low drive on 21 minutes.
Japan improved with the introduction of Catania striker Takayuki Morimoto
midway through the second period but the South Koreans sealed the win when Park
Chu Young stroked home from the spot after being bundled over by Narazaki.
''We managed to keep our cool in front of this big crowd and never lost our
focus and that was the key to our victory today,'' said South Korean manager
Huh Jung Moo.
Okada's men face Cameroon, Netherlands and Denmark in Group E at the World Cup
while South Korea are up against Argentina, Greece and Nigeria in Group B.
==Kyodo
2010-05-24 23:23:08


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