SPORTS

Kathmandu,Monday January 31, 2000  Magh 17th, 2056.

Soongsil University lift ANFA-Coca Cola Cup

-By a Post Reporter

KATHMANDU, Jan 30 - Soongsil University asserted the South Korean domination on the ANFA-Coca International Invitational Cup, by beating Nepal Red 2-0 in an entertaining final here Sunday.

Ulsan University was the other South Korean team to lift the Cup, winning it in 1997 and 1998.

Park Yoon Hwa, seeing the Nepal Red players congregate at one spot, put Soongsil University 1-0 up with a superb 30-yard pile driver, leaving the keeper standstill.

And Park Joon Woo sealed the victory, scoring the second in the second half injury time off Kim Jang Yong's long cross from the left.

Prince Nirajan, chief guest of the occasion, distributed the Cup and prizes to the winning team and the runners-up after the final.

Much to the delight of the football officials, the stadium was brimmed with the capital’s football fans pouring in to support the home team.

With the crowd supporting the home team to the hilt, Nepal Red, regardless of the final score did not disappoint their supporters, applying early pressure on a tactically formidable opposition.

Nepal Red had a tremendous opportunity to move ahead when the match was barely five minutes old. But to the dismay of the home crowd, Hari Khadka, after finding himself clear in front of the rival goal, only ended up in the side netting.

The home team not only saw their defenders doing a great job, putting the opposition attacks at bay but also looked better of the two, dictating the pace of the opening session.

But all their hard-work failed to pay back owing to some poor finishing. While Sunil Tuladhar, who came down to lend an additional force, fired over the bars off Bal Gopal Maharjan’s flag-kick in the 24th minute, Rajesh Shahi squandered another one similarly in the 34th minute, again of a corner kick taken by skipper Deepak Amatya.

"We played the better football throughout. But we failed to take a couple of easy chances," said the Nepalese team coach, Stephen Constentine after the match.

The match was so tense that the sight of players laying on the ground and being carried off the field was not uncommon. Referee Buddhi Gurung controlled the game quite well, issuing only one yellow card to Rakesh Shrestha for a rough tackle towards the close of play.

The game, however lost its gloss as both the teams had to play much of the match without their key players. Nepal Red had to bring on Surendra Lal Shrestha after Upendra Man Singh injured himself while grabbing an oncoming shot in the 15th minute.

The Koreans too lost the services of their striker, Ko Ki Goo, through a bad swelling to his right ankle in the middle of the first half.

Surendra Shrestha, notwithstanding those two instances, had a considerably good international debut. He did not allow anyone to feel the absence of Singh, producing a number of breathtaking saves.

Nepal Red began the second half with an attacking brand of football but a goal eluded them, despite getting close several times.

While Kumar Thapa, Rajesh Shahi, Bal Gopal Maharjan operated well in the middle, skipper Deepak Amatya was struggling a little bit early on. He was just starting to initiate some good moves in the second session but that hardly impressed team coach Constantine and was substituted with Basanta Gauchan.

Amatya later announced his retirement from international matches together with veteran national team defender Rajesh Manandhar. Prince Nirajan honoured them with the ANFA blazer during the prize distribution function.

The final score would have been quite bigger but for the spurned chances from the Koreans, especially in the second half. They were very unfortunate to see skipper Kim Jang Hyun’s well executed freekick denied by the near post.

"Nepal played better in the final than they did in the previous match against us," remarked the South Korean coach, Yo Jong Hee.

"But we had a firm plan to go about the game," he said. "As Nepalese were going on all cylinders, I asked my boys to calm down and wait for the right moment just as they run out of fuel to launch their attacks."

While appraising the game of Hari Khadka and Basanta Gauchan, he said: "Nepal should play more and more matches with stronger opposition to raise their standard."

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