BD U16 girls lose to DPR Korea 9-0
Tournament holders DPR Korea showed they remain a force to be reckoned with at U-16 level, overwhelming Bangladesh to earn a comprehensive 9-0 win at the 2017 AFC U-16 Women’s Championship on Monday.
The two-time champions never looked back after taking the lead within five minutes through a booming header from dominant forward Kim Kyong-yong – who bagged a personal haul of five – stretching their unbeaten run into the tournament to 14 matches.
Bangladesh, appearing in the tournament for the first time since 2005, spent much of the contest camped in their own half, as the technical and physical superiority of Song Sung-gwon’s side proved too much to handle.
Kim Kyong-yong doubled her tally, and DPR Korea’s lead, in the eighth minute as Bangladesh failed to effectively deal with a high ball from a wide area, allowing a simple tap-in.
For the following 20 minutes, Golam Robbani Choton’s side managed to stem the tide somewhat, until a delightful piece of skill from Kim Ryu-song set up captain Ri Su-gyong for a simple but emphatic finish at the half-hour mark.
That goal was quickly followed by Kim Yun Ok’s long-range 33rd minute strike, and Kim Ryu-song very nearly made it five shortly thereafter, but the score remained 4-0 at half time.
After the break, Kim Kyong-yong repeated her earlier practice of scoring a header within five minutes of the whistle, this time latching on to Pong Song-ae’s cross to complete her hat-trick, before a goalkeeping error from Ruksana Begum allowed Yun Ji-hwa to make it six.
Kim Kyong-yong scored another super header in the 57th minute, then took her personal tally to five and DPR Korea’s to eight with four minutes remaining.
Ri Su-gyong rounded off the scoring with a simple close-range finish in injury time to give DPR Korea their biggest win at the tournament since a 10-0 win over Chinese Taipei in 2013.
They will look to continue on their winning ways against Australia on Thursday, while Bangladesh face another daunting challenge in three-time champions Japan on the same evening.
(AFC)
