Lee guides Korea to 3-1 win over Bahrain

AL RAYYAN, January 15

South Korea passed a physical test from Bahrain to win their Asian Cup Group E opener 3-1 thanks to Lee Kang-in’s second-half double at the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium today.

With the score at 1-1 after goals from Hwang In-Beom and Bahrain’s Abdullah Al-Hashsash, Paris St Germain’s Lee turned on the style with two lethal strikes that had the South Korea fans at the small 15,000 capacity arena screaming in delight.

A stop-start encounter had plenty of fouls in the first half and although there was no malice in the challenges, South Korea had three players on yellow cards in the first half hour — including centre back Kim Min-Jae.

“We knew it wasn’t going to be easy playing Bahrain, it turned out to be scrappy with a number of yellow cards today,” South Korea coach Juergen Klinsmann said. “It was a tricky game and had a lot to do with the Chinese referee (Ning Ma) giving too many yellow cards early. That’s why I took off Min-Jae, because if they made a slight foul he’d get sent off.”

Senegal begin title defence in style

Senegal began their Africa Cup of Nations title defence with a 3-0 victory over 10-man Gambia helped by Lamine Camara’s double in Group C, bringing an end to a sequence of surprise results at the tournament in the Ivory Coast.

After a shock-filled Sunday where the minnows had the upper hand over heavyweight opponents, Senegal restored faith in the form book as Pape Gueye scored early and Camara added two more to ensure victory in the opening Group C encounter.

Gueye put Senegal ahead in the fourth minute at the Charles Konan Banny Stadium, while 20-year-old Camara, voted Young African Player of the Year in 2023, underlined his promise with a fine finish. — Reuters