Chinese players celebrate after Zhang Xin scores the first goal for her team in the AFC Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament first leg game against South Korea at Goyang Stadium in Goyang, South Korea, April 8, 2021. /CFP
China defeated South Korea 2-1 in the first-leg game of AFC Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament at Goyang Stadium in Goyang, South Korea on Thursday. The win extends China's unbeaten record against South Korea.
The competition was rescheduled five times before it finally happened on Thursday. South Korea found themselves in an advantageous position in the first 30 minutes at home. They kept launching attacks from the two wings, creating several opportunities, but they just could not follow through.
Perhaps that made the team more impetuous and advance more rashly. South Korea's defenders blocked a shot by China's Wang Shanshan in the 31st minute, but their clearance was neither far nor safe enough. China's Majun got the ball and passed it again into the penalty box. The first defender misjudged the distance and watched the ball fly through over her head. The second defender apparently did not see it coming because, by the time she did, China's striker Zhang Xin had already broken the net, helping her team lead 1-0.
Zhang Xin (#6) of China shoots to score in the AFC Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament first leg game against South Korea at Goyang Stadium, April 8, 2021. /CFP
It did not take South Korea long to tie the score with their even more aggressive offense. In the 39th minute, they cut the ball in the midfield and drove all the way to the center. While most of the Chinese defenders were distracted by Ji So-yun, she passed the ball to Kang Chae-Rim, who beat both the offside trap and her defender before making it 1-1 with a powerful shot.
Neither side achieved anything in the remainder of the first half. South Korea grew more cautious in the second half, which gave China more breathing room and more breath on the field. The two sides exchanged some decent plays until the 70th minute when Son Hwa-yeon kicked China's Tang Jiali in the leg while competing for the ball in the box. The referee called it a foul and gave China a penalty kick.
Wang Shuang (#7) celebrates after scoring the second goal for her team in the AFC Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament first leg game against South Korea at Goyang Stadium, April 8, 2021. /CFP
China's ace Wang Shuang shot the ball right into the left corner of the goal, putting her team back to lead (2-1) again. That score did not change for the remainder of the match.
A win on the road plus two away goals gave China more than enough advantage to secure a spot in Tokyo. The team will host South Korea in the second-leg game in Suzhou, east China's Jiangsu Province on April 13.