SPORTS
Stielike apologizes for shocking 0-1 defeat to China
Despite the stunning 0-1 defeat to China in Thursday’s World Cup qualifier, the Korean football association chief confirmed Friday his trust in the team’s coach Uli Stielike. “We just have to watch and let these players have a strong game,” said Chung Mong-gyu, head of the Korea Football Association.
Despite the stunning 0-1 defeat to China in Thursday’s World Cup qualifier, the Korean football association chief confirmed Friday his trust in the team’s coach Uli Stielike.
“We just have to watch and let these players have a strong game,” Chung Mong-gyu, head of the Korea Football Association (KFA) told reporters upon arriving at Incheon International Airport early Friday.
“We didn’t play such a bad match,” Chung said. He returned home with the football team from China, but the rest of the national team didn’t respond to interview calls and headed to the National Football Center in Paju, north of Seoul, to prepare for Tuesday’s qualifying match against Syria.
“We had a few chances in the second half but just couldn’t win them. The players did the best they could under the circumstances. We haven’t lost hope of qualifying for the World Cup and talks of a coaching change (are too early),” Chung said.
At Helong Stadium in Changsha of China, Yu Dabao’s goal in the first half gave China only a second ever win in 32 matches between the two countries.
Paired in Group A with Iran, Uzbekistan, Qatar, Syria and China, Korea needs to maintain at least No. 2 position as only the top two teams in the group directly advance to the World Cup. Despite Thursday’s loss, Korea still sits in the second place with 10 points from three wins, one draw and two losses. Iran ranks the first with 14 points and Uzbekistan is in No. 3 spot with nine points. Korea will have another match with No. 4 Syria at home on Tuesday.
After the defeat, Stielike apologized to the country’s football fans.
“We knew China would play aggressively from the start, but we had a tough match in the first 20 minutes,” Stielike said. “We surrendered a goal just after our players found their rhythm, so the whole match got difficult.”
During the match, Korea held possession over 64 percent but the German coach’s inept tactics left the Korean team in turmoil. After scoring a goal in the first half, China retreated deeper in the second half but Korea struggled to create clear chances.
“We lacked a delicate finish. I will try to find solutions to the problem in the remaining four matches by making changes,” Stielike said.
The team’s captain Ki Sung-yueng also expressed his disappointment after the game. “I am lost for words,” he said.
“I was so disappointed with the result. I never thought we could lose to China before kickoff. But we couldn’t make the result.
“As a matter of fact, I don’t even know what I have to do first. As captain, I have tried to communicate with players, but things didn’t work out well,” Ki told reporters after the match. Analyzing the reasons for the defeat, he added his team didn’t play their best.