North Korea’s footballers floored by South in Tokyo dust-up

TOKYO: North Korea fell to a 1-0 defeat by South Korea on the football pitch Tuesday in a full-blooded international given added spice by simmering political tensions between the two countries.

A freak own goal by defender Ri Yong-Chol 25 minutes from time in Tokyo proved the difference in a tempestuous East Asian championship clash bristling with pent-up emotion.The result dashed any faint hopes North Korea had of winning the four-team tournament after they were sunk by a deflected late goal in a 1-0 loss to hosts Japan at the weekend.

Studiously avoiding eye contact in the tunnel before kickoff, both sets of players belted out their national anthems with gusto.Forward Kim Yu-Song was booked for elbowing South Korea’s captain Jang Hyun-Soo in an early flashpoint.

But it was the South, held 2-2 by China in their opening game, who looked the likeliest to score, despite missing several key players such as Tottenham forward Son Heung-Min.Lee Chang-Min fired a shot just wide with the best chance of the first half, and then a snap shot from striker Jin Seon-Guk rattled the post just before the hour mark.

The match was punctuated by bone-crunching tackles and decided by the scrappiest of goals as a Kim Min-Woo cross ricocheted off centre-back Ri and trickled into the net almost in slow motion.

Jong Il-Gwan dragged a shot wide in a rare chance for North Korea five minutes later but they never seriously looked like producing an upset.The biennial East Asian tournament was first held in 2003 when South Korea won the first of their three titles, a year after reaching the semi-finals of the World Cup as co-hosts with Japan.