Vietnam came from behind to trounced North Korea 5-2 in afriendly match yesterday in HCM City.

The win was a big surprise, since Vietnam, world No 141, are13 steps lower than their rivals, who brought their best players, some of themhaving competed in Europe, to Thing Nhat Stadium.

Pak Kwang Ryong made a double for the visitors at the 15thand 53rd minutes of the games. The Vietnamese goals were then sandwichedin-between.

The visitors, who came to Vietnam with cold faces, refusedall media access and took part in a closed-door training session, set up theirdomination in the first minutes.

The Koreans needed five passes to break the Vietnamesedefence. The ball was given to Pak, whose light tap-in defeated goalkeeper TranNguyen Manh to push his team ahead.

However, it seemed that it was not the North Korean’s peakday yesterday.

The hosts caught the pace of the game and leveled the resultat the 32nd mark.

Receiving a ball from captain Le Cong Vinh, Nguyen Tuan Anhdanced in the box against two Korean defenders, before he made a curving finishto the left corner of keeper Ri Myong Guk.

Vinh then lifted Vietnam, who started the second half withrapid speed at the 51st.

Nguyen Van Toan stole the ball from the Korean side and sentit to Vinh, who sprinted to the box and defeated Ri for the second time.

Pak brought the game to a tie score just one minute later.Jong In Gwan then heeled the ball to Pak, who was not being watched by anyVietnamese, to make an accurate finish.

However, that was all they could do this game, although bothsides opened consecutive attacks for more goals.

Midfielder Luong Xuan Truong, who is playing for the SouthKorean Incheon United FC, made a smart pass to Vu Van Thanh, who chested andvolleyed to the net. Truong completed his perfect day with a goal for himselfwith a long banana-shaped finish from outside of the box at the 85th minute.

Midfielder Pham Thanh Luong, who took the captain band fromVinh, made Vietnam fly high with the fifth goal in the additional time.

“They had a good game against North Korea. It was awonderful match, not only because of the 5-2 result,” said Vietnamese coach TruongViet Hoang.

“They played better than we imagined, although there was aproblem in the first 15 minutes. They are in different generations, but theycompletely understood each other and made up a great game,” he added.

It was the first time Vietnam beat North Korea in their fivematches. In their previous match last year, the two teams ended 1-1.

The win is a good start for coach Nguyen Huu Thang and hisplayers, who are to take part in the ASEAN Football Federation Cup next month.

VNS