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By Peter Rutherford
JAKARTA, July 15 - South Korea suffered a shock
2-1 loss at the hands of Bahrain on Sunday to leave their Asian
Cup dreams in tatters.
After Kim Do-heon gave Korea an early lead, Bahrain got
back on level terms just before the break through Salman Isa
Ghuloom. Worse was to follow for the 2002 World Cup
semi-finalists in the second half.
A woeful back pass from Kim Jung-woo was picked up by Talal
Yusuf. He danced into the box and the ball broke to Ismaeel
Abdullatif, who fired gleefully past Lee Woon-jae before
running into the waiting arms of coach Milan Macala on the
sidelines.
Macala, who has tasted victory over Korea twice before as
coach, said this win was the sweetest.
"Today was the most important win," croaked the Czech at a
news conference.
"We played well in the first half but we were under
pressure in the second for the full 45 minutes."
Macala said he had to work to pick his players up after
their surprise 2-1 loss to Indonesia in the Group D opener.
"We are still alive. Now we can look forward to a big game
against our big opponents from the gulf, Saudi Arabia."
Korea went ahead in the fourth minute when Kim Do-heon
volleyed home from close range, but they failed to press home
the early advantage and paid for it with a moment of slack
defending.
DEFENSIVE LAPSE
Mohamed Hosain's chipped free kick floated over a static
Korean defense and an unmarked Ghuloom beat Lee at the near
post just two minutes before the break.
South Korea were a far more urgent side in the second half
and carved out a series of chances -- the best of which saw Lee
Dong-guk dally with only the keeper to beat and his laboured
effort was cleared by a backtracking Bahrain defense.
The Gulf side soaked up the pressure then hit Korea with a
sucker punch.
A bemused Korea coach Pim Verbeek insisted his side had
given their all.
"It's no surprise that my players are completely finished
in there," he said.
"We played well in the second half and I was waiting for us
to go 2-1 up. I never expected them to score a goal."
The Dutchman acknowledged the precarious position his side
are in but maintained that qualification was still possible,
despite being at the bottom of the group.
Korea have to beat co-hosts Indonesia by two clear goals
and hope that other results go their way.
"We have to win 2-0. There will be 85,000 people, both
teams have to score and win the game, I think it will be very
interesting."