Set-pieces our Achilles Heel admits Jo

AFC – DOHA, DPR Korea coach Jo Tong-sop felt his side’s inability to defend set-pieces was ultimately their undoing as their hopes of reaching the AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2011™ quarter-finals suffered a setback with a 1-0 defeat to Iran.

The only goal of the Group D game came in the 63rd minute when Pejman Nouri latched onto a throw in down the left flank before whipping in a cross that Karim Ansari Fard managed to steer past keeper Ri Myong-guk and into the far corner to send his side into the quarter-finals with a game to spare.

Jo was not too downcast over his side’s performance but rued one lapse in concentration that ultimately cost them three points.

“I think the players did well according to the instructions but the weakness for our team was the set-pieces and the throw-ins and we conceded the goal from the throw in,” he said.

“I instructed the players to do the same as they did in the first-half, which was to not to let the Iranian team play through balls, concentrate on stopping their forward line and be wary of set-pieces and throw-ins.

“In terms of attacking, I told them to employ quick passes and good movement to help us to score.”

DPR Korea failed to create any real clear-cut chances until the game moved into injury time and Hong Yong-jo almost grabbed a dramatic equaliser but the striker saw his effort from 12 yards graze the bar, much to the disappointment of the contingent of Korean fans that had turned out to support their team.

It leaves Jo’s side with one point from two games and needing to beat Iraq in their final game to have any chance of progressing to the last eight.

Despite failing to find the back of the net in 180 minutes of football, the North Korean boss stressed he would not adopt a more attacking approach against the defending champions.

“Of course we have only one point, so the next match is very critical for our team to go for the knockout stage but we will try our best to win the match so that we can proceed to the next round,” he added.

“In terms of the system, we converted to 4-4-2 and we combine attack and defence and in this way we created new tactics for our team.

“For the next match, I think we have to again put the emphasis on defence and try to score goals on the counter-attack.”