A meeting of two strong teams China PR and DPR Korea, both of whom made the final 8 at last September’s FIFA Women’s World Cup China ended in a 0-0 draw.

In the 3rd minute DPR Korea attacked based around their star RI Kum Suk, down the left OM Jong Ran passed to KIM Kyong Hwa who left off a powerful shot. In the 11 minute RI Kum Suk headed back towards goal where two teammates were lined up waiting. Then immediately after that RI Kum Suk shot from long range and so on before defensive tower LI Jie was sent off adding extra pressure to the Chinese defensive line.
China PR absorbed DPR Korea’s attacking pressure. HAN Duan and XU Yuan, who together had scored 3 goals against Korea Rep, tried to create a chance but struggled to even do that.

The second half started without either team having scored, but then KIM Yong Ae, who had been continually troubling the Chinese defenders with her speed, dribbled into the box, was fouled and earned a penalty. Star striker and captain RI Kum Suk stood over the ball amidst a chorus of boos from the Chinese supporters. Her right footed shot bounced off the right hand post and away from goal letting the best chance of the game slip away. China PR’s defense had been strong all game but in the 68th minute BI Yan was shown her second yellow card and sent off. This pushed the DPR Korean attackers to strive for more. Right DF SONG Jong Sun, KIM Kyong Hwa and KIL Son Hui all tried their luck with shots from range. But China PR’s GK ZHANG Yanru was alert and didn’t let her guard down.
In the 79th minute Chinese left SB YUAN Fan beat two defenders and ran into the penalty area, at which the home fans cheered loudly for the first time in a while, but her shot was directly at the keeper and no goal came from it. No goals came and chances were few and far between for China PR. However, the defense couldn’t stop concentrating right up until the end because DPR Korea’s attacks were always a threat. With a player less on the field China PR were happy to collect a point from a scoreless draw, a game where they were out shot 2-19. This result means that the East Asian Women’s Football Championship Finals 2008 can be won by only two teams; Japan on 6 points and China PR on 4.

“DPR Korea are very strong, and are ranked higher than us in the world. They are physical and today was a difficult match for us, even with 10 players we kept fighting and I want to thank the players for that”. Said China PR’s head coach Elisabeth LOISEL after the match. “We weren’t in very good form today and that continues on from our first match (versus Japan)” said DPR Korea’s head coach KIM Kwang Min after the result didn’t go the way she had expected.