Football | Benfica efforts not enough to beat 4.25SC

Benfica de Macau football club lost 0-2 against North Korea’s 4.25 Sports Club yesterday evening in match four (of six) of the group stage for the Asia Football Confederation (AFC) Cup.
Benfica was trying to correct the mistakes made in the previous match against the same side two weeks ago, having lost 8-0 in Pyongyang. This time, the local team started the game trying to control defensively the best players of the North Korean club.

And things were running well until around the 16th minute of the first half, when the 4.25SC started to grow and to threaten to score. With a couple of good saves, goalkeeper Batista kept the nil.

The strategy of Benfica to hold the game was starting to fail and the 4.25SC was playing wide on both left and right wings. Benfica was trying to respond through the center with long-passes trying to reach the forward players.

At minute 23, in the sequence of a corner kick and with the ball crossing the box back and forth, Korean captain An Il Bon secured the first goal.

The game then entered  the hardest phase for Benfica with several attacks from 4.25SC that resulted in a similar play as in the first goal, catching a rebound. The ball was kicked inside the box with the referee Omar Mohamed Ahmed Hassan Al-Ali pointing to the penalty mark by charge of Nguema over Kim Yu Song.

Called to convert, An kicked the ball with precision – touching the crossbar – to make it 0-2, 31 minutes into the first half of the match.

Until the half-time whistle, Benfica managed to balance forces and in the last five minutes even attempt on goal, but very far from a real scoring chance.

Following the break, the game was more evenly balanced and played a lot on the midfield with the best opportunities still coming to the North Korean side and allowing Batista to shine with a few more good saves. The match reached fulltime with the same score as it had reached half-time – 0-2 – to North Korean side that with this win scored three more points and guarantees its progress into the next stage of the competition.