South Korea ... 2 Togo ... 1You begin to feel sorry for the Africans. Following on Togo's 2-1 defeat by South Korea yesterday, four of the five African teams have played and lost at these finals. It is now up to Tunisia to save the continent's honour when they meet Saudi Arabia in Munich this evening.
Whilst the South Koreans were understandably ecstatic about their first ever finals win on foreign soil, Togo have only themselves to blame for not making the most of a glorious opportunity. Against a strangely low-key, nervous South Korea that seem far removed from the hard-running side of four years ago, Togo had done slightly the better in a poor first half.
The Africans made the most of a defensive hesitation to take the lead when their diminutive striker Mohammed Kader nipped in between the central defenders Kim Young Chul and Kim Jin Kyu to knee down a long ball from defender Massamasso Tchangai before striking home for a superb 31st-minute opening goal. It mattered little that this was only the second Togo shot on goal.
Buoyed by finding themselves in front, Togo finished the half with the wind in their sails and might have made it 2-0 in the 42nd minute when Yao Junior Senaya's well struck free kick was touched over the bar by goalkeeper Lee Woon Jae.
With the alarm lights flashing, South Korea's Dutch coach, Dick Advocaat, gambled heavily right at the start of the second half, bringing on Ahn Jung Hwan, the man who sent Italy packing with a "golden goal" four years ago. In effect, South Korea were now playing a four-man attack of Ahn, Park, Lee Chun Soo and Cho Jae Jin.
Before Togo could take any advantage of their midfield superiority, however, Togo created their own problems in the 55th minute, the game's turning point. When Manchester United star Park Ji Sung finally stirred from his slumbers to run at the Togo defence, he was unceremoniously upended by the central defender and captain, Jean-Paul Abalo, on the edge of the area. Abalo, who had already picked up a yellow card midway through the first half for a similar foul on Park, was shown a second yellow by English referee Graham Poll and sent off.
From the resultant free kick, Korea's blonde striker Lee Chun Soo scored an equaliser that might have owed something to less-than-perfect positioning from Togo's goalkeeper, Kossi Agassa. Suddenly, the whole game had changed utterly.
Sensing victory, Korea started to play like the side of four years ago, making the most of their numerical advantage. With Togo far from resigned to their fate, it was suddenly an excellent game. Twice Togo might have scored in breakaways, firstly when Stade Brest midfielder Moustapha Salifou blasted high over the bar and secondly when Salifou and Arsenal's Emmanuel Adebayor worked a neat one-two down the right flank only for Adebayor's shot to go well wide.
In the end, fortune favoured coach Advocaat, since it was Ahn, his half-time substitute, who pulled the winner out of the bag in the 72nd minute when turning outside the area to hit a superb 30-yard goal that took a slight deflection off defender Dare Nibombe. Two-one and joy for South Korea.
Even then the game was not over as Togo bravely attempted to pull it out of the fire with Salifou and Adebayor creating two more half chances.
SUBSTITUTIONS
SOUTH KOREA: Ahn for Jin-Kyu Kim (45 mins), Nam-Il Kim for Eul-Yong Lee (68 mins), Sang-Sik Kim for Jae-Jin Cho (83 mins). Subs not used: Baek, Won-Hee Cho, Chung, Do-Heon Kim, Dong-Jin Kim, Yong-Dae Kim, Young-Kwang Kim, Chu-Young Park, Seol. Booked: Young-Chul Kim, Chun-Soo Lee.
TOGO: Forson for Assemoassa (62 mins), Aziawonou for Salifou (86 mins), Toure for Senaya (56 mins). Subs not used: Agboh, Akoto, Dossevi, Erassa, Malm, Obilale, Olufade, Tchagnirou, Atsou. Booked: Abalo, Romao, Tchangai.
Referee: Graham Poll (England).
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