“I saw the team lift the trophy at the first-ever U-17 Women’s World Cup . It was fantastic for the country and I hope we can achieve the same thing.”
Those were the words of Korea DPR star Sung Hyang-Sim, whose brief trip down memory lane could not hide her disappointment after she and her team-mates failed to hang on to a 3-2 lead in their opening FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Jordan 2016 group-stage match with England, who snatched a dramatic equaliser with practically the last kick of the game.
Although several players stood out in the memorable 3-3 draw, the FIFA Technical Study Group and the fans present at King Abdullah II Stadium had no hesitation in naming Sung the Live Your Goals Player of the Match.* *At the beginning of the post-match press conference, the deserving recipient proudly held up the award and bowed to express her gratitude to the attendees for their applause.
“I’m very honoured,” she said in a subsequent interview with FIFA.com,in the company of the Korea DPR team coach and team manager. “This award is going to give me lots of confidence for the matches to come, but I would have been ever happier if we’d managed to hang on and obtain all three points.”
Both teams played their part in what was a thrilling encounter right from the outset, as the Asian champions quickly fell behind to the side that finished third at this year’s UEFA Women’s U-17 Championship. Sung then equalised with an impressive, clinical finish, grabbing her first goal of Jordan 2016 and taking her overall U-17 Women’s World Cup tally to three, having previously found the net against Germany and Canada two years ago, at Costa Rica 2014.
After that kind of display, our opponents’ defences are going to be marking her pretty tightly.
“Goals are my main focus,” said the 16-year-old. “That’s my role in the coach’s gameplan. Once out on the pitch, I always try to give 100 per cent for my team, whether it’s by scoring or by setting up one of my team-mates for a goal.”
The diminutive North Korean attacker – the smallest player on the pitch – posed a real threat to the English defence throughout the 90 minutes, and it was her fine work down the right-hand side, where she ghosted past three defenders and sent a fine cross into the box, that led to Ko Kyong-Hui notching Korea DPR’s third goal of the evening.
At the end of the game, her coach, Jong Bok-Sin, paid tribute to her performance: “She was the best player out there and she did everything that I asked of her. I’d like to thank her for all she gave to the team. After that kind of display, our opponents’ defences are going to be marking her pretty tightly, but I’m planning on varying our tactics a little so that she can still be our most effective forward.”
Sung has conflicting emotions about Costa Rica 2014, where the North Koreans were knocked out at the group stage. The AFC U-16 Women’s Championship holds fonder memories for her, however, after she scored four goals and reached the final in 2013, and then scored three times and held aloft the trophy – following Korea DPR’s defeat of Japan – in 2015.
“We have more experience now,” she said. “We came to Jordan with the intention of getting as far as possible. Our main aim is to reach the knockout stages. We’ll see what happens after that. I hope that we’re still here on the last day of the tournament.”
Korea DPR are scheduled to face Brazil in their second group match on Tuesday 4 October, at Prince Mohammed International Stadium. In the event of victory, Hyang-Sim and her compatriots will have taken a crucial step towards obtaining their stated objective.**