SOUTH KOREA lifted the men’s East Asian Cup title after Chinese players blew it in front of their home crowd Sunday.

    South Korea could have clinched the soccer title with a victory against North Korea but was held to a goalless draw in the first match at the Wuhan Sports Center.

    The outcome left Uli Stielike’s men with five points at the end of their campaign in the four-team round robin tournament.

    China needed to beat Japan to win the title but the hosts played out a 1-1 draw to finish with four points.

    Shanghai SIPG midfielder Wu Lei struck in the 11th minute to raise China’s hope of a third title but Yuki Muto equalized shortly before the interval to frustrate the hosts.

    North Korea spent most of the first half on the defensive, with the South keeping possession without finding a finishing touch, as the North’s goalkeeper Ri Myong Guk made several spectacular saves.

    It was a similar story in the second half as South Korea won their third East Asian Cup title, and first since 2008.

    Japan finished the tournament as the only winless team, scoring two points in three games after a 2-1 opening defeat to North Korea and a 1-1 draw with South Korea.

    “We played quite a good game, we played well enough to win,” Japanese coach Vahid Halilhodzic told Japan’s Kyodo news agency.

    “We would have won the competition had we arrived here two or three days earlier. We have many problems and we’ll try to solve them,” he said.(SD-Agencies)