Tokyo, May 31: South Korea's World Cup hero Ahn Jung-Hwan struck the decisive goal to beat arch-rivals Japan 1-0 today in a match to commemorate the anniversary of both countries co-hosting the 2002 World Cup finals.
The J-league club's Shimizu S-Pulse striker, who scored the winner to knock out Italy in the World Cup last year, did it again with only four minutes left on the clock to avenge the Koreans' defeat to Japan in Seoul last month.
Korea, the surprise World Cup semi-finalists, and their Asian rivals were neck and neck in the first half, but neither had a clear scoring chance on the wind and rainswept pitch before a sell-out 53,405 crowd at the national stadium.
After both sides missed early chances, Brazilian-born Alessandro Santos and Mitsuo Ogasawara almost broke into the Korean area, only to have the attack broken up by goalkeeper Lee Woon-Jae.

Japanese keeper Seigo Narazaki was forced to pull off some super-human skills when Korean skipper Yoo Sang-Chul and Choi Yong-Soo chased the ball into the area on a straight pass in the 31st minute.



Less than a minute later, however, he clashed with Kim Tae-Young when the striker tried to connect with a cross from the left by Cha Du-Ri but the two were uninjured.



The second half started with the Koreans putting pressure on the Japanese.


Bureau Report