[2018-04-13]  

 Preliminary matches for the 2018 AFC Cup finals are now going on in several countries and regions.
There were five matches out of 12 as of April 10 in Group I (East Asian region) comprising the DPRK’s April 25 and Hwaeppul, China’s Benfica Macau and Hang Yuen FC of Chinese Taipei.
Hwaeppul and Hang Yuen FC had three and April 25 and Benfica Macau two matches.
The last match of the first-round preliminaries took place between April 25 and Benfica Macau at May Day Stadium in Pyongyang on April 11.
April 25 won both matches, beating Hwaeppul 1-0 at its home game and Hang Yuen FC 5-1 at away match, while Benfica Macau defeated Hwaeppul and Hang Yuen FC 3-2 in all away matches.
After seeing three matches played in Pyongyang, Hong Chol Myong, a football fan living in Taedonggang District, Pyongyang, said: “I saw all four games and I could have a good grasp of the capacity of the Group teams. Each team has merits and demerits, but I think April 25 and Benfica Macau are dominant in both physical and technical terms. I believe now as there are still two matches left the winner of this game will lead the Group.”
The match started with April 25’s kick-off and saw a seesaw battle from the beginning.
Two minutes into the game April 25’s forward thrust into the goal area and netted a goal, but it was disallowed for offside.
April 25 continued to threaten the goal area of the opponents with correct pass, skilled dribbling and side breaks based on its tactics. In the 13th minute No. 18, Kim Yu Song, shot a volley home, opening the scoring.
With the tempo rising, April 25’s forward No. 22 Ri Hyong Jin kicked a long-distance shot into the goal in the 20th minute.
The Korean players continued attack in the second half, scoring three more goals in the 54th, 64th and 68th minutes.
No. 18 Kim Yu Song took the ball away from Benfica Macau players who were all out for an offensive to make up for the loss and dribbled the ball even past the goalkeeper, marking his hat-trick in the 77th minute. He netted another goal with a long-distance shot in the 79th minute to increase his tally to four in a match.
A few minutes before the end of the game April 25 added another goal with two- to three-person combination to beat the opponent 8-0.
The head coach of Benfica Macau said that before the start of the match he thought his team would also win as they did against Hwaeppul and Hang Yuen FC, but was totally defeated with a wide margin. He thought his players worked hard, but it was not played according to his tactics. On the contrary, April 25 was far better than he had thought in speed, physical fitness, decision-making and shooting in the goal area, he added.
Earlier, on April 10, Hwaeppul trounced Hang Yuen FC 6-1.

By Jong Tang Song PT