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China beats S Korea to win Four Nations Women's Football Tournament
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-01-15 11:31

GUANGZHOU -- Skipper Bi Yan scored a controversial goal to give hosts China a 1-0 win over South Korea in the final fixture of the Four Nations Women's Football Tournament here on Wednesday.


China's captain Bi Yan (C) celebrates with her teammates after scoring a goal to help China top the Four Nations Women's Football Tournament in Guangzhou January 14, 2009. [Xinhua]
China won the tournament with three wins, scoring eight times and conceding none.

The controversy in tonight's game came in the 30th minute when China was awarded a indirect free kick just outside the goal area after the South Korea goalkeeper Kim Jung Mi was judged to keep the ball too long.

China's captain Bi Yan lifts the trophy of the Four Nations Women’s Football Tournament after China beat South Korea 1-0 to win the title in Guangzhou January 14, 2009. [Xinhua]
After the 25-year-old Bi curved the ball past Kim, the referee signaled the goal stood, a ruling leading to strong protest from the South Korean players. They complained that Bi took the kick directly and refused to play on.

However, the re-play on TV showed that another Chinese player who stood at the ball rolled it a little bit with her right foot before Bi's goal.

South Korea coach An Ik Soo gathered his players doing some talking for nearly 10 minutes, then the seemingly very aggrieved girls returned to the pitch to continue the game.

"We had some disagreement with the referee. The players complained a lot to me about the ruling. I could see their upset," said An.

"My players are rather young, they are easily agitated, I tried to make them keep calm and asked them to go back to the pitch to continue the play," he added.

China coach Shang Ruihua saw nothing controversial there.

"I reckoned that the South Korea players had no idea that the rule about the indirect kick has changed, and according to the new version, the kick can be taken after the ball is just touched by a player. The old rule required the ball should roll a circle before it is kicked to the goal," he said.

China and South Korea, both coming off two wins from as many games, were determined to wrest from their opponents a win, which would land the trophy of the tournament for them.


Shi Mengyu (L) of China scrambles for the ball with a South Korean player (R) during the final fixture of the Four Nations Women's Football Tournament in Guangzhou January 14, 2009. [Xinhua]
Spearheaded by prolific striker Han Duan, and with Bi pulling the string in the midfield and fleet-footed Lou Jiahui running tirelessly up and down the right flank, China looked more dangerous from the beginning.

South Korea survived a scare in the 6th minute when Han raced into the area to collect a pass from her scoring partner Xu Yuan and released a powerful shot, which hit the post as motionless Kim looked on helplessly.

The South Korea players ,with their hard working and determination, constantly rattled China's defence, but China goalkeeper Zhang Yanru managed to keep her clean record of the tournament untainted.

In the 17th minute, South Korea played out a slick counter-attack as unmarked forward Park Hee Young picked up a pass from teammate Lee Eun Mi, but her shot was held by Zhang.

In the early kick-off of the day, Finland beat New Zealand 2-0.