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S. Korea defeats Oman in Asian Cup opener 1-0

January 10, 2015

Forward Cho Young-cheol comes through with his first international goal

Cho Young-cheol celebrates after scoring his first international goal. (Yonhap)

CANBERRA (Yonhap) — South Korea defeated Oman 1-0 to open its AFC Asian Cup campaign in Australia on Saturday, an encouraging start to its quest to end a half-century title drought at the continent’s largest football tournament.

Forward Cho Young-cheol scored in the dying moments of the first half on a rainy day at Canberra Stadium, and South Korea held on over the final 45 minutes for the ever-important first victory in Group A.

South Korea is seeking to win its first Asian Cup title since 1960. The next match for South Korea will be against Kuwait on Tuesday, back at Canberra Stadium, followed by the group finale against Australia next Saturday in Brisbane.

South Korea lost its starting right fullback Kim Chang-soo in the 18th minute to a leg injury. Cha Du-ri, who replaced Kim, took a hard shot from the right edge of the box in the 23rd but found only the side netting.

South Korea broke through just before halftime. Taking a feed from Ki Sung-yeung in midfield, Koo Ja-cheol sped toward the net and took a bouncing shot that Al-Habsi failed to control. Cho beat defender Mohammed Al-Musalami to the rebound and scored his first international goal as he fell to the ground.

South Korea was in control most of the game, but the victory came at a cost, as they lost defender Kim Chang-soo in the first half and then midfielder Lee Chung-yong in the second half, both to leg injuries.