South Korea's National Under-17 Women's team proved to be too hot to handle for T&T in the closing match of the three-match series at the National Football Centre in Paju as they turned out 6-0 winners yesterday. The result, obviously disappointing for the T&T contingent after their 3-1 win in the first match last week, was more of what the hosts had expected from the onset as they demonstrated just why they were crowned champions of Asia. The South Koreans are also expected to pose a serious threat for the Fifa Under-17 Women's World Cup title here in September.
Min Ji Yeo did the bulk of the damage with five goals and So Dam Lee got the other as T&T after being just 1-0 down at half time conceded their goals in the 12th, 55th, 66th, 78th, 85th and 89th minutes. T&T coach Even Pellerud, while mindful of the heavy defeat, maintained that the training camp served its purpose well and he was confident it would aid T&T's preparations for the Fifa Under-17 World Cup in September. "We ran out of gas after one half in this last game of the South Korean series. A strong first half ended 1-0 for Korea, and I am very pleased with good defending and a high number of well set up attacks.
"We continued to run thin on player options, too many players were not ready to play due to minor injuries–and we could not match the Koreans superior ball control in the second half," Pellerud said. He added that the Koreans punished T&T for its lapses that may have easily gone unnoticed by Concacaf opponents in the previous 4Nation tournament. "It might sound strange to see any kind of positives out of a 6-0 defeat, but there are good things to say about the T&T team as well. The result does not reflect the match very well, as at times we matched the excellent opposition very well.
"The Korean team was undoubtedly capable of relieving some defensive errors that neither Mexico nor Canada could during the 4Nations tournament. "They were good enough to make us identify issues in our backline. First and foremost our backline needs to play more consistent and solid, and with more authority. "We are going to take steps in order to make this team unit stronger, and the coaching staff is already discussing our options."
