The attendance for the second game of the day at Hampden was dramatically reduced once the USA-France game ended. The idea of a double header is a good value for money idea.
However, the women’s game is still a hard sell in Scotlandand the prospect of Colombiataking on the Korea DPR did not whet the appetite of all that many. The evening was perfect for football as well as the sun dropped in the sky.
No wind to speak off; no humidity and the pitch looking in perfect condition. The ground staff at Hampden should be commended for their hard work in the close season as the pitch did not look as if a full game had just been played on it not 45 minutes ago.
The game was due to kick off at 7:45 pm but as I type this 8:15pm the game has still not kicked of. We believe this is due to the wrong flag being displayed with the South Korean flag being shown on the large TV screens instead of the flag of Korea DPR.
The game eventually started one hour after the scheduled kick-off time. A statement released by the London2012 press office read: “Today ahead of the Women’s football match at Hampden Park, the South Korean Flag was shown on a big screen video package instead of the Korean flag.
Clearly this is a mistake, we will apologise to the team and the National Olympic Committee and steps will be taken to ensure this does not happen again.” Local officials were at pains to state that the video package was created in and distributed from the London base of the games.
The package had been sent to all Olympic venues. It does not stretch the imagination to suggest this sort of package should have been checked, checked and checked again before release to any venue.Finally, back at the football.
Not quite as exciting as the first game with the tough tackling Koreans stifling much of the efforts from Colombia in the first 20 minutes. The only thing of note I recall from that period was when Ye Gyong Ri nipped in to steal the ball as the Colombian defence tried to walk the ball away from danger.
Her shot to the left of Sandra Sepulveda lack any real power so the score remained 0-0. The crowd briefly came to life when Yun Mi Jo dropped a high ball from a corner but she managed to gather the ball before any strikers could take advantage of the slip.
In the 35th minute, Colombia nearly took the lead when Carmen Rodallega was fouled about 23 metres from goal. A training filed ploy of Maria Usme running over the ball before Liana Salazar tried to lob Jo in the Korean goal.
As the ‘keeper is 5’ 6’’ this is not a bad idea but the ball drifted over the bar. The Colombian team lived to regret that miss as after a scramble in their goalmouth, Kelis Peduzine tried to clear the ball and it hit off Song Hi Kim’s shin and into the net.
Korea nearly doubled the advantage in the last minute of the first half as Ye Gyong Ri headed over from a free-kick on the right.Half-time: Colombia 0 Korea DPR 1The Glasgow skyline was turning darker and darker as the second-half kicked off.
I am used to heading home by this time but we have another 45 minutes of football to enjoy. The numbers in the stadium had dwindled with lonely outposts of twos and threes in the stands breaking up the red and blue blocks of seats.
As the game wore on I cannot see France of USA being worried about the teams they will meet in the group games. Fans of the women’s game behind the press box were disappointed in the fare presented after the delights of the first game of the evening.
There was a feeling of thud and blunder about the game which was not the best advert for football. Colombia were playing the off-side trap often and one of these times they will be caught out.
With Colombia playing with a high defence, they were nearly caught when Yulieht Dominguez tried to clear the ball past Song Hui Kim only to see the ball ricochet off her leg and the race was on between the two players to get to the ball.
Song made the better start but Dominguez made up the gap and managed to get her leg in the way as the ball was about to be crossed. The offside trap was finally sprung by Hui Hyon Yun who slipped the ball to Song Hui Kim right in front of goal and unmarked.
Unfortunately for Korea her outstretched foot could only guide the ball the wrong side of Sandra Sepulveda’s right hand post. In the 75 minute Liana Salazar was dramatically carried off to be replaced by Tatiana Ariza.
Not to be outdone, Korea tehn had a player carried off as Un Ju Choe had her foot caught in a tackle as she tried to clear the ball. She was not replaced as about a minute later she hobbled back to the side lines to re-join the fray.
The dog-end of the game was not warming the blood much and you know it is a bad sign of a game when you start feeling the chill around the knees. The game was effectively over when Hui Song Kim scored her second of the game as she lobbed the ball across the line as defenders tried to head it out. Kim paid the price for her efforts as she had to be carried off with a leg injury before the game could be restarted. As she turned to celebrate her goal, her ecstasy turned to agony with what turned out to be cramp.
The cramp did not stop Kim trying to score with an overhead kick in the last minute of regulation time. This time her landing meant she was carried off for a second and final time to be replaced by Mi Gyong Choe.
Kim still wanted to be part of the game and had to be restrained from going back on by her coach. Another casualty during the four minutes of additional time was Yuliehy Dominguez who was off the pitch as the final whistle went.Final score: Colombia 0 Korea DPR 2Colombia: Sanda Sepulveda, Natalia Gaitan, Natalia Ariza (Nataly Araias 46 mins), Daniela Motoya (Ingrid Vidal 46 mins), Orianica Velasquez, Carmen Rodallega, Maria Usme, Liana Salazar (Tatiana Ariza 77 mins), Yulieht Dominguez, Kelis Peduzine, Lady Andrade
Unused subs: Stefany Castano, Hazleydi Rincon, Ana Montoya, Melissa OrtizKorea DPR: Yun Mi Jo, Nam Hui Kim, Myong Gum Kim. Choi Ok Ro, Song Mi Yun, Un Ju Choe (Yong Sim Choe 88 mins), Ye Gyong Ri, Hwa Myong Jon, Hyon Hui Yun, Chung Sim Kim (Un Hyang Kim 40 mins), Song Hui Kim (Mi Gyong Choe 90 mins)
Subs: Un Hyang Kim, Hui Son O, SonHwa Pong,NamSilRi, Chang Ran O
Source: FOOTYMAD
