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| May 21, 2005 | Saturday | Rabi-us-Sani 12, 1426 |
Cole gives Chelsea win in S. Korea
SUWON (South Korea), May 20: A cool Joe Cole strike gave Chelsea a 1-0 win over South Korean champions Suwon Bluewings in a friendly on Friday. Cole scored from close range after being put through one-on-one with Bluewings goalkeeper Lee Won-jae in the 15th minute.
Chelsea’s Jiri Jarosik also came close late in the first half, steering the ball just wide of the post from deep inside the box.
The English champions did not have it all their own way, however, with Bluewings’ Brazilian striker Nadson a frequent threat and Kim Doo-hyun pulling the strings in midfield.
But the K-League champions were wasteful in their finishing when they were not confined to long-range efforts.
“I think it was a good game for the conditions of the teams”, Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho said.
“Chelsea are at the end of a season with 70 matches played, we just arrived in Seoul two days ago, nobody is sleeping, the players are tired.”
Bluewings coach Cha Bum-kun was impressed.
“The reputation of Chelsea has been proved today, although not in the best condition they were ahead of us in every area,” he said.
The London club agreed to play the friendly after signing a shirt sponsorship deal reported to be worth $91.73m last month with Korean mobile phone and electronics giant Samsung, the owners of the Bluewings.
Mourinho had promised to field his strongest side, although the attack in particular was depleted by the absence of Didier Drogba, Mateja Kezman and Eidur Gudjohnsen.
Mourinho said he hoped the South Korean team could come to London to play a friendly and hoped to bring the likes of Frank Lampard, John Terry and Ricardo Carvalho the next time the team came to Korea.—Reuters
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