sports

Men’s and women’s final matches of the Hwaeppul Cup football tournament were played at Kim Il Sung Stadium in Pyongyang.

The men’s final was played between Ryomyong and Amnokgang teams.

Previously, Ryomyong lifted the Hwaeppul Cup two times and Amnokgang once.

They entered the final game after nearly 30 days of hot contest and put pressure on each other from the beginning by dint of positive attack and tenacious defence.

Melees in front of the goals and attacks grew in number with the passage of time, but no score was made.

Then, Ryomyong scored the opening goal right before the end of the first half. No. 16 who is the captain of the team was in the opponent’s penalty area when he received the ball from the midfield and kicked a powerful shot into the net.

He made another score in just some minutes after the start of the second half.

To maintain its advantageous situation, Ryomyong changed its formation from 4-4-2 to 5-4-1 to adopt a tactic of strengthening defence and launching sudden counterattack.

Meanwhile, Amnokgang further sped up the attack and did its best to reverse the tide of the match. In the 74th minute, it succeeded in netting a goal and scored the equalizer with a minute before the end of the second half.

As there was no more score in the five-minute stoppage time and extra time, there was a penalty shoot-out.

Amnokgang beat its rival through the shoot-out which everyone saw in strain.

Finally, it gained a victory over Ryomyong 6-3 and lifted the Hwaeppul Cup for the second time after 2023.

Earlier, the April 25 and Sobaeksu teams played the women’s final. The latter beat the former 2-1 (first and second halves 1-1, extra time 1-0).