3rd IFAF World Championships2007 in KAWASAKI/JAPAN

Game Result & Report




France(0)-Korea(3)

Cho Kyung Ho kicked a 29-yard field goal with 2:09 remaining in the game .

(C)JAFA/ Andrew Malana

KAWASAKI STADIUM, KAWASAKI

Team Korea's first offensive score in the third IFAF World Championship at Kawasaki turned out to be the big one.

Cho Kyung Ho kicked a 29-yard field goal with 2:09 remaining in the game and Korea defeated France 3-0 on Saturday at Kawasaki Stadium in the fifth-place playoff. It was Korea’s first offensive score in the World Championship and it gave the Asian/Oceania representative the first win in the six-nation competition and put it in fifth place.

Korea scored by a safety in a loss to Germany and got shut out by the United States in the group stage.

"In the qualification game against Australia last January, I couldn't contribute to the team’s win on kicking,"Cho said after the game. "So I wanted to help the team by myself today and I did it."

"We knew it would be going to be a tough game," Korea head coach Katsuji Ibaraki said. "We tried to control the clock and the field position. That went well and we managed to win by a field goal."

Under the wild condition with heavy rain affected by a typhoon, both teams were forced to play conservative football.

Team Korea celebrating their first win at the World Cup
(C)JAFA/ Andrew Malana

France made the best use of its size and power to control the game. The French offense deployed the powerful running game led by Ivan Wojciechowski and Sandino Octobre. Wojciechowski rushed for a team-high 86 yards on 11 carries while Octobre gained 73 yards on 14 carries on the ground.

Korea countered France's power with quickness and speed as well as taking advantage of the opponent's mistakes. Korea recovered two of four fumbles by France and made two drives alive due to France’s roughing the passer penalties. French also had some big played called off by penalties.

Korea started the game’s only scoring drive at the France 45 with 7:03 to play. Kim Kyoung Min threw a 16 yard pass to Han Ko Ji for a first down. Three straight rushing plays put Korea at the France 21. On third-and-2, Kim rushed for 4 yards for another first down at the France 17. After three rushing plays, Cho kicked the winning field goal.

"We are very disappointed by the outcome. Korea was a very tough team. They were outplayed by Germany and the United States, but they were not affected by the loss," France head coach Larry Legault said. "The weather condition got worse as the game advanced, and both of us had to play conservatively."