North Korea whip Thailand 14-0

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June 13, 2003 17:12 IST

Two players scored four goals each as defending champions North Korea trounced hosts Thailand 14-0 in a Group A match in the Asian Football Confederation Women's Championship in Bangkok on Thursday.

In another Group A match, South Korea beat Singapore 4-0 to stay on top of the group with nine points from three games.

The two Koreas will play the group deciding match on Monday.

The North Koreans played with one change in the line-up from the team that beat Hong Kong 13-0 on Tuesday; captain Yun In-sil was rested.

The three main goal scorers were Yun Yong-hui (on 8, 61, 64 and 81 minutes) and Ri Kum-suk (28, 34, 40 and 56 minutes), while Jin Pyol-hui had to settle for three goals, scored on 25, 38 and 48 minutes.

Ri Un-gyong got in on the action on 18 minutes, as did skipper Ra Mi-ae, on 51 minutes. Substitute Ri Un-suk completed the scoring with 18 minutes to go.

Thailand will be hoping for a win on Saturday against Hong Kong, while Singapore, who lost to Thailand in the opening game of the tournament, has the unenviable task of playing North Korea, also on Saturday.

Singapore, which conceded 47 goals in four games in the 2001 tournament, has so far conceded only seven goals, and on this form should do much better against North Korea. In the 2001 tournament, Singapore lost to North Korea 0-24.

In Thursday's game against Singapore, South Korea's Park Eun-sun scored the opener, her seventh goal of the tournament, after 6 minutes. When Cha Sung-mi scored three minutes later everyone expected a goal flood.

But Singapore refused to buckle and although Cha scored another in the 19th minute, it was not until the 61st minute of the game that Shin Sun-nam bagged the fourth and last goal of the game.

Only one team goes through from each of the three groups, with the best second-placed team also advancing.

The tournament, which runs until June 21, serves as qualifier for the FIFA Women's World Cup 2003, scheduled to be held in the United States.

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