UNLUCKY SOUTH KOREA LEFT REELING AFTER DEFEAT BY MEXICO

South Korea bowed out from the 2018 FIFA World Cup after losing for the second time in their Group F fixtures. This time it was against Mexico who caused an upset by defeating holders, Germany during their opening match.

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It was quite unlucky for the Koreans when they went behind to a penalty in the 26th minute after Serbian referee, Milorad Mazic pointed to the spot when the ball hit Jang Hyun Soo’s hand while trying to block a cross by Andrés Guardado.

Former Arsenal forward, Carlos Vela converted the penalty to give El-Tri the lead and made the match more open as the Asian side tried to find the equaliser. However the Taeguk Warriors could not find an opening to beat Guillermo Ochoa between the Mexican posts. 

They fell further behind in the 66th minute in a rather unfortunate fashion. The Koreans were in a dominating spell with successive attempts launched at Mexico.

The match officials should have spotted a foul when Guardado clipped a Korean player feet in his attempt to win the ball which subsequently found it’s way to Javier Hernández who beat goalkeeper, Kim Seung-Gyu with a low shot.

After pushing hard all match, finally South Korea managed to get a goal when Song Heung-Min’s shot from outside the box rendered Ochoa helpless but it came too little too late to keep them in the tournament.

BRACES FOR LUKAKU & HAZARD AS BELGIUM STROLL PAST TUNISIA

It was a stroll in the park for Belgium as they scored five past Tunisia during their 2018 FIFA World Cup match played at the Otkritie Arena in Moscow.

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Belgium opened the scoring in the sixth minute when their captain, Eden Hazard slotted home a penalty after he was brought down inside the box by Tunisia defender, Syam Ben Youssef.

The Red Devils went two goals ahead after sixteen minutes when Romelo Lukaku made a composed finish after receiving a pass from Dries Mertens.

However Tunisian hopes were raised two minutes later when Dylan Bronn headed the ball past Thibaut Courtois from a free-kick by Wahbi Khazri.

Lukaku then made it 3-1 in the third minute of the stoppage time at the end of the first half when he dinked the ball over Tunisia goalkeeper, Farouk Ben Mustapha after a good run by Thomas Meunier on the right.

It was 4-1 six minutes into the second half when Kevin De Bruyne released Hazard in the middle and the Chelsea man remained composed to slot the ball past Farouk.

It got worse for Tunisia in the 90th minute when Michy Batsuayi latched onto a pass from the right and slotted it past Farouk who had denied the Borussia Dortmund player from scoring on two occasions earlier.

Khazri restored some pride for Tunisia when he slotted the ball past Courtois deep into stoppage time from a cutback but by then Belgium already confirmed as the winner of the match and a place in the knockout round.

SWITZERLAND COMEBACK FROM BEHIND AGAINST SERBIA

Switzerland came back from trailing to an early goal to collect all three points against Serbia from their 2018 FIFA World Cup Group E match played at the Kaliningrad Stadium in Kaliningrad.

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The Serbs had a dream start when striker, Alekxandar Mitrović headed home a cross from Dušan Tadić in the fifth minute. The Newcastle United player had an earlier effort saved by Swiss goalkeeper, Yann Sommer.

Just before halftime, his opposite number, Vladimir Stojković denied Switzerland the equaliser when he managed to push away a Blerim Džemaili effort which was on target.

However, Switzerland only needed seven minutes into the second half to pull level when Granit Xhaka hit a first timer from outside the penalty box after the initial shot by Xherdan Shaqiri was blocked.

Then just around the hour mark, Shaqiri saw his effort hit the Serbs’ crossbar as Valdimir Petković’s boys grew in confidence. 

Both teams were going for the winner but it was The Swiss who  managed to get it when from a quick break in the last minute of regulation time.

Shaqiri latched onto a pass by Xhaka before holding off the challenge from Duško Tošić before slotting the ball past Stojković to seal all three points for Switzerland which moved to second place with the place in the knockout phase seemed almost certain.

MUSA BRACE GAVE NIGERIA VICTORY OVER ICELAND

Ahmad Musa scored a brace as Nigeria came alive in the second half in their 2018 FIFA World Cup match against Iceland played at the Volgograd Arena in Volgograd.

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After their defeat against Croatia on their opener Nigeria needed to get the points on board in order to qualify for the next round. Having held the much favoured Argentina to a draw on their first ever World Cup finals match, Iceland took the field with high confidence.

Despite that there were not many chances created by both sides in the first 45 minutes with Gylfi Sigurdsson free-kick for Iceland that was saved by goalkeeper, Francis Ozuho the closest moment to come to a goal.

However the match came alive in the second. Musa in his attempt to control a pass from Victor Moses lifted the ball up and allowed it to come down before hitting a half-volley past Iceland goalkeeper, Hannes Halldorssón four minutes after the restart.

Iceland tried to make a comeback but Musa struck again fifteen minutes from time when his pace brought him past defender, Kári Árnason and after taking it past Halldorssón picked his spot to slot home his second goal of the match.

The Video Assistant Referee (VAR) came into play when Björn Sigurdarson was deemed to have brought been brought down by defender, Kenneth Omeruo in the penalty area. However Sigurdsson could not keep his spot-kick down despite Ozuho going the wrong way.

At the final whistle, Nigeria registered their first win and this would set up nicely for the final group matches when they face Argentina while Iceland take on the already qualified Croatia.

STOPPAGE TIME HEARTBREAK FOR COSTA RICA

Heartbreak for Costa Rica tonight when they went down 2-0 to Brazil after holding their fort intact for the full ninety minutes of their 2018 Fifa World Cup match.

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The Central American side put out a resolute performance to held Neymar & co. at bay and even survive a penalty decision when Dutch referee, Bjorn Kuipers had judged that Neymar had been pulled down in the penalty area by a Costa Rica defender.

However it was later rescinded by the referee after watching the replay of the incident on video at the review area and instead awarded a free kick to Óscar Ramírez’s side.

Real Madrid goalkeeper, Keylor Navas was inevitably the busier goalkeeper as Brazil peppered his goal with shots from the first whistle.

Having drawn their opening match against Switzerland, Brazil needed to win and they went all out to ensure all three points would come their way. 

However, they came up against a Costa Rica side determined not to go home early, having lost their opening match against Serbia 1-0 in a match played at the Cosmos Arena in Samara. 

Navas did what was required and he and his team-mates were six minutes away from picking up their first point as the match entered stoppage time.

A cross from Marcelo into the box was headed down by Roberto Firmino and Neymar tried to control it. However, Philippe Coutinho made a darting run into the box and slotted it between Navas legs much to the delight of all Brazillians around the world.

Then as the stoppage time entered it’s seventh minute, Gabriel Jesus who had a goal ruled out for offside in the first half laid the ball for Neymar to score his first goal of the tournament and seal all three points for the South Americans side.

THT DEFEAT THUNDERBOLTS TO REACH ALAGENDRA CUP FINAL

Terengganu Hockey Team (THT) reached their second successive Alagendra Cup final after brushing aside TNB Thunderbolts challenge in their semi-final match today.

Sarjit Singh’s men will face Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club (KLHC) in tomorrow’s final as they look to defend the title they won last season against Maybank.

Against The Thunderbolts, THT took the lead inside the first minute when their Argentine guest player, Gonzalo Peillat converted a penalty corner.

However, a strong performance by The Thunderbolts defence saw the score being kept at 1-0 until the end of the first quarter.

Then in the first minute of the second quarter, they sprung a surprise by equalising through Azril Misron's field goal. However, the situation did not last long as another guest player for THT, Joaqin Menini restored his side lead two minutes later.

Peillat then made the holders’ place in the final safe when he converted another penalty corner nine minutes from time to make the final score 3-1 in favour of THT.

In another semi-final, KLHC knocked out Universiti Kuala Lumpur (UniKL) to enter their first Alagendra Cup final, also with a 3-1 scoreline.

It will be a good opportunity for KLHC to avenge their 7-2 trashing at the hands of THT in last season’s semi-final especially with former THT topscorer, Jang Jong-Hyun playing for the city side.

The Korean scored twice in the fourth quarter, helping his new side to the win against UniKL after Joshua Pollard had already opened the scoring in the first.

UniKL cancelled out Pollard’s goal through Faridzul Afiq’s field goal in the second quarter.

FAIZAL HITS FIVE AS THT CRUISE PAST UiTM

Holders Terengganu Hockey Team (THT) opened their title defence of the Alagendra Cup with a 9-0 trashing of UiTM in their quarter-final match held at the National Hockey Stadium.

National player, Faizal Saari who led the team out today helped himself to five goals today with Argentine duo, Lopez Barreiros and Gonzalo Peilat shared three strikes between them. Another goal for THT was scored by Sufi Ismat.

It took only six minutes for Sarjit Singh’s men to break the deadlock with Barreiros sounding the board with a field goal before Sufi made it 2-0 a minute before the end of the first quarter.

Faizal then opened his account for the new season with another field goal in the 24th minute before making it 4-0 for THT  in the third quarter.

Argentine Olympic gold medalist, Peilat then opened his goal account in Malaysia with his trade-mark penalty corner goal making it 5-0 for THT at the end of the quarter.

Faizal completed his hattrick with a strike from a penalty corner in the 49th minute before adding a couple more goals in a space of two minutes each before Peilat completed UiTM’s misery with another penalty corner goal in the last minute.

THT which received a bye in the round of sixteen will take on TNB Thunderbolts in the last four while Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club (KLHC) face Universiti Kuala Lumpur (UniKL). 

Both matches will be played at the National Hockey Stadium on Saturday.


Photo: Malaysian Hockey Confederation