Korea emerges as Champions of the London Cup as they defeat the Kiwis by 4-3
Korea defeated the Black Sticks Men by a narrow margin of single goal, 4-3, in the final of the inaugural London Cup which was played at the University of Westminster Sports Ground in Chiswick, London, England.
The match was quite entertaining as the Kiwis took an early lead in the 7th minute, when Simon Child scored the opener, but the Koreans replied with a double-strike later in the first half, when Nam Yong Lee scored in the 22nd minute
while Suk Hoon Cho scored a minute after the equaliser in the 23rd minute. The first half ended at 2-1 to Korea.
In the second half Korea once again scored in the 48th minute, when Yong Lee scored his second, but the Kiwis once again levelled the score in the 62nd minute, when Shea McAleese scored the equaliser after Stephen Jenness’s strike in
the 55th minute. However, the Koreans held their nerves untill the end and scored the decider in the 65th minute, when Yong Lee completed his hat-trick.
Korean coach seemed very happy with the performance of his athletes in the final and viewed that the victory was due to the spectacular effort by the team.
"The first loss to New Zealand was obviously a dent to our confidence but overall I was pleased with team form and how they had progressed through the tournament," Moon Ki Yoo, coach of the Korean national side stated after the match.
Nam Yong Lee, player of the final match, viewed the tournament as a perfect stage for the preparation of the 2012 Olympic Games which will also be played in London.
“In preparation for the Olympics I will try my best and if they get to the Olympics I will hopefully score a lot of goals.... I would like to add that I was very pleased that a lot of the English supporters were cheering for Korea,” Nam Yong Lee, the man
of the final match, stated his views about the event and the support of the English spectators for Korea in the final.
Meanwhile, the Kiwis coach, Shane McLeod, viewed the tournament as a better experience for the team as they have learnt a lot from the event.
“We had the opportunities to score, but didn’t make the most of it. The last 15 minutes of the game was ours for the taking, we had numerous shots on goal but just could not convert,” says Shane McLeod, coach of the Black Sticks Men explained after the defeat.
Meanwhile, England defeated Belgium to secure third place in the event.
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