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Midfielder emerges as attacking ace in S. Korea’s rout over Fiji

August 5, 2016

SALVADOR, Brazil, Aug. 4 (Yonhap) — South Korean midfielder Ryu Seung-woo showed Thursday he can be an attacking ace for the Olympic football team.

There were three other goal scorers in the 8-0 rout over Fiji, but Ryu was at the heart of the South Korean attack in their Group C match at the 31st Summer Olympic Games. He scored a hat trick, had an assist and drew two penalties at Fonte Nova Arena in Salvador, Brazil.

The 22-year-old is the first South Korean to score a hat trick at the Olympics.

Against Fiji, Ryu broke the scoreless deadlock in the 32nd minute with his left foot, and earned a penalty six minutes later, after he was brought down by Fiji defender Filipe Baravilala in the box. Ryu’s teammate Moon Chang-jin stepped up to take the spot kick, but it struck the left post.

In the second half, Ryu was even more aggressive.

In the 62nd minute, Ryu fed Kwon Chang-hoon to make the score 3-0. Just a minute later, Ryu scored with his right foot for his second goal of the match.

But Ryu wasn’t done. In the 71st, he drew the second penalty for South Korea and let substitute Son Heung-min convert the spot kick for a 5-0 lead. Ryu rounded off the scoring for South Korea just before the final whistle and completed a hat trick.

Despite setting the record, Ryu was humble about his performance.

“I feel happy not because I got a hat trick, but my team scored lots of goals and started the Olympics very well,” he said. “My teammates gave me good passes and that’s why I was able to score some goals.”

South Korea will next face Germany on Sunday and Mexico next Wednesday.

Ryu has been the core members of the South Korean youth football team, leading the country to the 2012 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-19 Championship and to the knockout round at the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Turkey. At the U-23 level, he had four goals in 22 matches prior to the Rio Games.

There were concerns that Ryu might not get a lot of minutes after Son, who plays with Tottenham Hotspur in the English Premier League (EPL), joined the Olympic team as one of the three older players, known as “wild cards.” Because both Ryu and Son play behind the striker upfront, competition was inevitable between the two players.

Ryu played the full 90 minutes while Son, the last player to join South Korea in Brazil, only played the final 20 minutes. Shin had initially planned to hold Son out altogether from the first match, but decided to give him at least some action. The coach said after the match he was pleased with Son’s showing.

Given Ryu’s outstanding performance against Fiji, and the fact that both players have experienced German football, Shin may just find a way to start both players in the next contest.

Ryu said he understands South Korea still have work left to do.

“Since we started well, I will try to help our team maintain this (winning) atmosphere in upcoming matches,” he said.

Ryu also hoped his performance at the Olympics will lead to a better pro career. The attacking midfielder joined Bayer Leverkusen in 2014 from the South Korean club Jeju United, but has yet to find his spot with the German Bundesliga club. He was loaned to Eintracht Braunschweig for the 2014-15 season and Arminia Bielefeld the following season before returning to Leverkusen.

South Korean midfielder Ryu Seung-woo celebrates after scoring his second goal against Fiji in their Group C football match at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics at Fonte Nova Arena in Salvador, Brazil, on Aug. 4, 2016.

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