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S. Korea opens Women’s World Cup with 2-0 loss to Brazil

June 9, 2015

South Korea’s Ji So-yun (10) reacts as Brazil scored a goal during the first half of a FIFA Women’s World Cup Group E match in Montreal, Canada, on June 9, 2015. Brazil beat South Korea 2-0. (Yonhap)

MONTREAL (Yonhap) — South Korea dropped to Brazil 2-0 to open its FIFA Women’s World Cup in Canada on Tuesday.

Formiga and Marta each scored for the seventh-ranked Brazil in the Group E showdown at Olympic Stadium in Montreal. South Korea, ranked 18th, is still looking for its first victory at its second Women’s World Cup appearance.

South Korea’s next match will be against Costa Rica, also at Olympic Stadium, on Saturday. Earlier Tuesday, Costa Rica played Spain to a 1-1 draw.

The top two nations from each of the six groups, plus the four-best third-place teams, will reach the knockout stage.

Brazil set the tone early as defender Fabiana rattled the crossbar with a mid-range strike in the third minute. Cho So-hyun on the other end saw her volley go off target in the 11th.

Formiga, a 36-year-old veteran playing in her sixth World Cup, put Brazil on board in the 33rd minute. Formiga intercepted defender Kim Do-yeon’s poor pass back to her goalkeeper Kim Jung-mi, and calmly put it into the net for the early lead.

Brazil nearly doubled the advantage just four minutes into the second half, when Tamires drove down the left wing and rolled a shot toward the far corner. Goalkeeper Kim got a piece of it to keep it out of the net.

Brazil did get the second goal with Marta’s 53rd-minute penalty. Cho So-hyun tripped up Formiga in the South Korean box while trying to clear the ball after another mediocre pass.

Marta converted the chance for her 15th career World Cup goal. It gave her the sole possession of the all-time World Cup lead, breaking a tie with retired German star Birgit Prinz.

Desperate to get on board, South Korea upped the pressure midway through the second half, with substitute Jung Seol-bin providing some spark off the bench.

Forward Ji So-yun, nearly invisible in the first half, teamed up with winger Jeon Ga-eul for a pair of open opportunities. In the 70th, Ji took an outlet pass on the right side and teed it up for Jeon, whose hard shot was deflected off Fabiana’s leg and out of play.

Nine minutes later, Ji again found Jeon inside the box, but Jeon airmailed the shot as South Korea walked away without a goal.