South Korea are East Asian Cup Champs

February 25th, 2008 | by: Daryl | Comments Off

South Korea and Japan faced off in the final round of game at the East Asian Cup, with both teams level on four points, knowing a win would guarantee some silverware. They shared one fantastic goal each – check out Yeom Ki-Hun’s Klinsmannesque opener for South Korea, and Koji Yamase’s long range equalizer – for a 1-1 draw that left Korea top by virtue of more goals scored.

South Korea then had to sit through a nervous 90 minutes, as North Korea could still have leapfrogged them with a 2-0 win over China. But that didn’t happen, China claiming a 3-1 victory and a shred of dignity from an otherwise disastrous spell as host nation.

Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
Korea Republic	5	3	1	2	0	5	4	+1
Japan	5	3	1	2	0	3	2	+1
China PR	3	3	1	0	2	5	5	+0
Korea DPR	2	3	0	2	1	3	5	-2

So with South Korea on top of the table, no matter how slim the margin, they claim East Asian bragging rights. For now. The rivalry resumes when North Korea hosts South Korea for World Cup 2010 qualifier on March 26th.