China win U-17 Asian title
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2004-09-19 10:05

Wang Weilong's header brought China a second AFC U-17 championship after 12 years as they edged past the Democratic People's Republic of Korea 1-0 in the final at the Fujieda Stadium in Shizuoka, Japan.

Chinese U-17 players celebrate their championship in Shizuoka, Japan after they beat North Korea 1-0 in the final. [sina]

China's only previous victory in the competition was in 1992 when they defeated Qatar in the final in Saudi Arabia but Wang's winner five minutes from time Saturday evening brought China the second triumph, a surprising victory over a DPR Korean side that dominated proceedings, but Pak Hui-sam's side paid the ultimate price for failing to turn their dominance into goals.

"This was a tougher game than we thought it was going to be and we were able to control the ball less than we would have liked," said China coach Zhang Ning, "But we had the ability to utilize the chance that came our way.

"The DPR Korean players played well and were very skillful but, regardless of that, we were able to turn the game over and claimed the title."

Just as they did in their penalty shoot-out win over Qatar in the semifinal, the DPR Koreans had a catalogue of chances throughout the 90 minutes, but it was with 30 minutes gone that their first real opportunity came along.

Choe Myong-ho's shot from the edge of the area flew past Chinese goalkeeper Wang Dalei but, rather than nestling in the back of the net, the ball cannoned back off the post.

Less than a minute later, Wang was called into action again and this time denied his opponents with a save at full stretch after Mun Kyong-nam's scorching low effort from 20 meters out. Within seconds a third chance presented itself but, after rounding Wang, Pak Chol-min's control let him down and the Chinese survived.

The DPR Korea continued to dominate but, as time wore on and fatigue set in, the Chinese became more and more of a force. Eventually, with time running down, they finally managed to break through the other side's defence, Cai Yaohui floating over an 85th minute corner and Wang Weilong rising high to head home.

"The players are a little disappointed because we were very motivated to win and I'm sorry that we couldn't grasp the trophy," said the DPR Korean coach Pak.

"We thought that we would take it easier in the first half and conserve energy but what actually happened was the players were a bit too excited and they played at full force right from the start. So by the end of the second half we lost the ability to attack and that's an area we need to work on in the future."

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