Exceptional England sweep aside South Korea
|England were in action against hosts South Korea on the second day of the tournament. Image: Angelica Ibarra Rodriquez
Excitement and expectation was palpable in the stands as hosts South Korea took on England in one of the standout ties on Day 2 of the Seoul 2024 Homeless World Cup.
Despite the legion of fans cheering on the home nation, it was England who came away 7-0 victors. The scoreline, however, failed to reflect the competitive spirit the game was played in, with England’s goalkeeper the reason Korea, despite some good football, were never able to find the back of the net - much to the disappointment of the home support.
England took the lead after a few minutes with a nice finish after a tight start to the game where consistent fouls on both sides disrupted the flow.
South Korea should have equalised, with the England goalkeeper saving well, before a double save and some good defending kept England from extending their lead, which they soon did thanks to a well-worked passing move and a low shot by the Korea goalkeeper.
|Fossi Wandji scored the opening goal of the tournament against Germany Image: Anita Milas
South Korea spurned the chance to cut the deficit, with a free-kick blazing high over the bar, before an England player found themselves with space and time to slot home his nation’s third of the game. England then sought to add to their advantage and found themselves in the position to do so on two occasions, but were let down by some poor finishing in front of goal.
The second half saw England maintain possession for large spells as South Korea searched for an opportunity to score and give the watching home support the goal they so desperately wanted.
England, however, were intent on sniffing out more goals and found the net twice in quick succession to give themselves a commanding 5-0 lead, with the South Korea goalkeeper then pulling off a smart save to deny England a sixth.
After some valiant defending, the sixth England goal did come thanks to a great strike which left the South Korea goalkeeper with no chance, before the England goalkeeper was called into action, making a fine block to deny South Korea.
An injury to South Korea’s brightest player, Fossi Wandji, disrupted any chance of South Korea staging a late fightback, before a quick break by England and good play at the edge of the area saw them score their seventh of the game. England were then denied an eighth at the death by a good save by the South Korea goalkeeper.
And despite the loss for the home side, the crowd burst into applause at the final whistle in appreciation of the effort from both sets of players.
I "What’s more important is that they take their time, relax and enjoy this experience," said England Manager, Craig McManus Image: Angelica Ibarra Rodriguez
Speaking after the game, England manager Craig McManus said: “I think that we are growing into the tournament. Yesterday our confidence wasn’t fantastic. There were a lot of nerves. Beating Bulgaria earlier today and in the manner we did against a very good team set us up well for this game. We just told the boys to go and enjoy it and try and work on the technical stuff that we wanted to do and fundamentally just go and have fun and I think they did and I think they showed that.
“I’m really proud of them. We wanted to finish the day on a high and I think we’ve done that."
“How many times will the players have the opportunity to play in front of that sort of crowd - who were brilliant - against the host nation? I’m really proud of them. We wanted to finish the day on a high and I think we’ve done that."
He added: “From my own experience of the tournament it’s after the second or third day that players start cementing their understanding of the game more, because we can practice all day and train all day but in a real-life scenario it’s different. I’m starting to see the technical stuff and the shapes we are looking for and the in-possession and out-of-possession stuff but again, that’s less important to us. What’s more important is that they take their time, relax and enjoy this experience.”
And he had some special praise for England goalkeeper Martin Farrelly following his performance. He said: "I’m really proud of him. Martin joined our team about six weeks ago, becoming a late entry to the team and he’s been absolutely phenomenal for us. I’ve got nothing but praise for him and I’m delighted we were able to end the day with a clean sheet and a win.”
Words: Craig Williams
Photos: Anita Milas, Angelica Ibarra Rodriquez