North and South Korea draw 0-0 in World Cup Asian qualifying
SEOUL, South Korea - Amid an atmosphere of goodwill, South Korea and North
Korea tied 0-0 in a 2010 World Cup qualifier Sunday.
With both teams already through to the final round of qualification, the
match had the feeling of a friendly from start to finish.
The visitors were given a rousing reception when they appeared for warmups.
The respective anthems were played before 55,000 fans in Seoul's World
Cup Stadium, including 500 North Korean supporters.
At the final whistle, fans applauded both sets of players.
It was a genial end to a bad-tempered buildup that saw North Korean officials
repeatedly demand the game be moved to a third country or the southern
resort island of Jeju.
The countries technically remain at war, although fighting on the battlefield
ended in 1953.
Both teams finished with 12 points, though South Korea took the top spot
in Group Three due to superior goal differential.
The game itself was a dull affair. North Korea, yet to allow a goal in
qualifying, rarely looked in danger as South Korea, missing injured Manchester
United star Park Ji-sung, created few clear chances. Kim Jung-woo should
have opened the scoring for the host after 12 minutes, but shot straight
at the goalkeeper, and Park Chu-young shot over the crossbar from close
range with 17 minutes remaining.
The visitors came on in the second half and Lee Kwang Chon's header was
tipped over the bar by goalkeeper Jung Sung-ryeong.
The draw for the final round of Asian qualification will be made on June
27 and matches begin in September.
At Saitama, Japan, Atsuto Uchida scored late in regulation time to lift
Japan to a 1-0 win over Bahrain. Uchida's header from the top of the area
bounced over the head of goalkeeper Sayed Jaffer and into the net in the
89th minute.
Both teams had already qualified for the last round, along with Australia,
Saudi Arabia, Iran and Uzbekistan. Japan finished atop Group Two with
13 points and earned a measure of revenge against Bahrain for a 1-0 loss
in March.
"We made lots of chances and it was just a case of finishing,"
Japan coach Takeshi Okada said. "We will have a tough time in the
final round, but I think this team can continue to grow with each game."
At Sydney, Australia fell to already-eliminated China on Sun Xiang's goal
in the 12th minute. With Australia having advanced, coach Pim Verbeek
rested key players and fielded a squad dominated by seven under-23 players
as preparation for August's Beijing Olympics.
