South Korea pay the penalty as Iran go through in Asian Games


BUSAN, South Korea, Oct 10 (AFP) - South Korea were knocked out of the Asian Games football tournament here Thursday after defending champions Iran won a tense semi-final on penalties.

An unstoppable spot-kick from Iran's Yahya Golmohammadi sealed a 5-3 victory in the shoot-out after the two sides had finished level at 0-0 after extra-time.

South Korean World Cup player Lee Young-Pyo, stand-in skipper for the Koreans after captain Lee Dong-Gook had started the game on the bench, was the villain for the home side. Lee sent South Korea's second penalty high and smashing against the crossbar, to the horror of legions of noisy home fans who had been confidently expecting a victory.

That miss left the score at 2-1 after earlier successful penalties by Javad Nekounam and Mohammad Nosrati for Iran. Hossein Kabei and Eman Mobali slammed in Iran's third and fourth spot-kicks past South Korean keeper Lee Won-jae, leaving Golmohammadi with the task of securing an emotional win for Iran.

Iran, the 1998 gold medallists, had pulled together earlier this week after skipper Ali Daei left the squad following the death of his father.

Dejected South Korea coach Park Hang-Soo took responsibility for the defeat after the loss as his distraught players trudged off while the Iranians celebrated.

"We had lots of chances and we were unlucky to not to score," Park said. "The players did their best. But if it's anybody's fault, it's mine," he told reporters.

Earlier, South Korea had been unlucky not to score carving out several chances against a resilient Iranian side.

The Koreans fielding five members of the squad which reached the World Cup semi-finals in June - Lee Won-Jae, midfielders Lee Chun-Soo, Lee Young-Pyo and Park Ji-Sung and right-sided attacker Choi Tae-Uk - were frustrated by some tight marking from Iran.

The first chance fell to Iran in the ninth minute with Nekounam glancing a header from a Mobali free kick goalwards. But his effort took a deflection and went by for a corner.

South Korea hit back almost immediately and should have opened the scoring. Choi Tae-Uk had a long-range free kick blocked by Iranian keeper Ebrahim Mirzapour. The ball fell to Kim Du-Hyan and he slammed a shot off the right hand post when it looked easier to score.

Iran had the ball in the net in the 47th minute but Javad Kazemeyan's headed effort was ruled out for offside. The game had burst into life and Kim Eun-Jong headed a cross from the lively Lee Chun-Soo just over the bar.

Lee Dong-Gook, who had scored in all of Korea's matches at the Asian Games, came on to replace Kim Eun-Jung after 60 minutes.

Lee had a glorious chance to seal victory in the final minute but he pulled his shot from six yards out across the face of the goal.

The striker had another opportunity in the first half of extra-time, his header from a well-flighted cross from captain Lee Young-Pyo flashing wide pf the left upright.

A great ball from Lee Chun-Soo found Lee Dong-Gook in the penalty area with just five minutes of extra time remaining but his shot shaved the far post.