Maldives coach Athif Mohammed at a press conference after the match was reluctant to speak a lot because he was disappointed and at the same time saddened by the poor results achieved by his foster children.
"This is my responsibility as a coach, I decided today we will play like this, and they have fought optimally," said Athif.
When asked by a newsman, he was reluctant to reveal the problems facing his team, which never won in two matches. Previously, Maldives was defeated by Indonesia 6-0.
For this result, Maldives, which is currently ranked 119 FIFA rankings, is certainly difficult to move to the next round because there is only one match left against the Chinese Taipei.
Throughout the game, South Korea`s domination of ball possession had been seen since the early minutes. With a ranking of 15 FIFA rankings, South Korea was able to create two golden opportunities when the match lasted only two minutes.
As a result, there is no other choice for the Maldives than to close the defense line. This strategy is paying off for the Maldives because the Korean forward prefers to release kick from outside the penalty box so that dozens of opportunities are wasted.
But as if only waiting for time, the Maldivian fortress finally collapsed also in the 25th minute. Starting from a defender`s mistake, making the referee point to a white spot for Korea. Korean midfielder Ji Solum completed his task perfectly so it changed the position to 1-0 for South Korea.
The pressure of the match undoubtedly made the Maldives defender make another mistake, this time making an own goal in the 35th minute by Aminath Shaamila which added to South Korea`s advantage to 2-0.
As if not giving the Maldives the opportunity to develop the match, two goals were scored the following minute through the feet of Son Hwayeon in the 35th minute, and Moon Mira at the end of the second round. The score changed 4-0.
Entering the second half, Maldives still cannot do much to face the Asian representative team in the 2019 World Cup. The South Korean attack is increasingly becoming the heart of the defense, so that they don`t even reach the heart of the opponent`s defense.
In the 54th minute, Maldivian players again dropped South Korean players in restricted areas, leading to a penalty. Moon Mira executed a kick that immediately tore the net, so it changed the score to 5-0.
Not satisfied just five goals, South Korea remains keen to score goals, so that again created three goals through the feet of Son Hwayeon in the 60th and 87th minutes and Lee Eunmi in the 88th minute. So the final score is 8-0 for South Korea.
For this result, South Korea is top of the standings with two wins, followed by Indonesia with one win, and Chinese Taipei with one defeat. While the Maldives is at the bottom of the standings with two defeats.
South Korea will meet Indonesia in their final Group A match. "Of course we want to win to get maximum points," said South Korean coach Yoon Dukyeo. The Indonesian national team is scheduled to face Chinese Taipei tonight.
Reporting by Dolly Rosana
Editing by Otniel Tamindael, Eliswan Azly
Pewarta: Antara
Editor: Andi Abdussalam
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