NORTH KOREA MEN’S SOCCER DEFEATS CHINESE TAIPEI 2-0 IN RETURN TO INTERNATIONAL ACTION

The North Korean men’s national soccer team won its first competitive match in five years and its first international match in three years and eight months .The DPRK defeated Chinese Taipei 2-0 in the first match of the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games Men’s Football Qualification Group F on Monday at the Zhejiang Normal University East Stadium in Jinhua, Zhejiang Province, China .Ri Jo Gook opened the scoring in the seventh minute and Kim Kuk Jin added a second in the 12th minute .This is the first time in five years that North Korean soccer has been represented at the Asian Games, which are categorized as a multi-sport event alongside the Olympics, since the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Games .It also marks North Korea’s return to the “international stage” after about three years and eight months since the Asian Football Confederation Under-23 Championship in January 2020.North Korea was suspended by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for unilaterally boycotting the 2021 Tokyo Olympics due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), and the ban was lifted on Dec. 31 last year. North Korea has been slowly making its way back into international competition this year, sending nearly 200 athletes to the Hangzhou Asian Games. While it’s still too early to assess the quality of the team, which played against Chinese Taipei, ranked 153rd in the FIFA rankings, North Korea (115th) dominated throughout the match. Playing in a 4-4-2 formation, North Korea often attacked with right winger Paik Chong-sung breaking through the Taiwanese flank to support the “two-tops” Ri Cho-guk and Kim Kuk-jin. When Baek Chong-sung was defended, left wing Ri Il-sung would open the way .North Korea struck first with a goal in the seventh minute of the first half .Ri took a right-footed shot from inside the penalty box, and the ball bounced off a Taiwanese defender and into the goal. The four female North Korean supporters who had traveled to the stadium to chant “Win, our player is good,” clapped and cheered. Another goal soon followed .In the 12th minute, Baek Chong-sung broke down the Taiwanese left flank and sent in a cross that Kim Kook-jin volleyed home. North Korea dominated the first half, with Taiwan only taking their first shot on goal in first-half stoppage time .North Korea continued to dominate in the second half. However, the third goal would not come .In the 16th minute of the second half, Kang Kuk Chol floated a free kick just in front of the left side of the penalty box into the center of the box, where Park Kwang Chun made a strong header. The ball went just over the crossbar .In the 20th minute, Lee Chao-kuo broke through to the front of the goal area and fired a left-footed shot that was blocked by the defense. Chinese Taipei had a chance in stoppage time when Chun Bo-yu went one-on-one with North Korean goalkeeper Kang Joo-hyuk, but his shot sailed over the crossbar. After a strong start to their return to international competition, North Korea will next face Kyrgyzstan 카지노사이트 on Nov. 21 and Indonesia on Nov. 24.