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With more vuvuzelas in the stands than goals in regulation, Thursday’s opening match of the inaugural Hawaiian Islands Invitational came down to penalty kicks.
A lot of them. Seven each by both Busan I Park of Korea and Australia’s Melbourne Heart.
The 14th shot proved to be the difference at Aloha Stadium. Busan’s Jihun Yu went right, Melbourne goalie Vedran Janjetovic went left, giving a veteran Korean team a 1-0 victory over the young side from Australia.
Busan will take on Yokohama FC for Saturday’s championship. The Japanese side held off the Colorado Rapids 2-1 in Thursday’s second match.The Rapids will face the Heart for third place Saturday at 5 p.m.
Forward Hiroaki Namba scored both goals for Yokohama, the first off a free kick in the 56th minute. Namba headed in Toyoma Uchida’s kick from about 25 yards out to break the scoreless tie.
Namba added what would the deciding goal seven minutes later off a cross from Takahiro Nakazato.
Colorado made things interesting when Drew Moor headed in a corner kick from Luis Zapata in the 72nd minute. The Major League Soccer team had several late chances but couldn’t convert.
"We are very satisfied with today; it was beautiful," Busan coach Iksoo Ahn said through an interpreter. "I was worried about the squad we brought here. We’re missing three top players who are playing with the national team in a qualifier.
"I thought Australia was really good, much better than I expected."
That was the same feeling from Melbourne’s coach John Aloisi. With the exception of three veterans, the Heart were composed of the club’s youth team, players ranging in age from 16 to 23.
"The boys did well, created a few openings, but Busan was very sharp," Aloisi said. "It was a really good performance with a lot of young players in their first international match. For us as a club that’s two years old, to go up against one that has been around for a while and had success in the K-League (Korea’s top pro league), I think this puts us on the map. We learned a lot and saw that some of the boys have what it takes."
Both goalies played well throughout, although they were rarely challenge. Busan had a 12-6 edge in shots on goal — eight in the second half — but most of the shots were wide of the goal. Sangwook Jeon of Busan and Melbourne’s Janjetovic had to make two saves each … until the shootout.
The Heart scored on their first three attempts, with Joshua Groenwald knocking it into the right corner. Jongwon Lee’s shot was high left, just hitting the crossbar and bouncing out, putting Melbourne up 3-2.
Jeon batted away Brodie Paterson’s attempt, with Hose Roberto Rodrigues Mota Jr., one of Busan’s three foreign players, rolling the tying score into the right corner.
Melbourne couldn’t convert on its next three attempts. Busan missed twice more until Yu made good on his.
"It was a great kick," Janjetovic said of the match-winner. "I went one way, the ball the other. On a different day, it might have been a different."
Melbourne was fortunate not to take a different score into the locker room at halftime other than the scoreless tie. Although shots on goal also were even, Busan, the aggressor on both offense and defense, had better looks.
Janjetovic had his problems clearing with the swirling winds and Busan’s compacted attack. Janjetovic’s lone save came when he rose above the crowd to grab midfielder Jiho Han’s loft in the 30th minute.
Han had an even better chance at breaking through when racing down the left sideline, beating the Melbourne defense, and taking an open shot on goal in the 33rd minute. Only a sliding deflection by Heart defender Steven Gray prevented the score.
A minute earlier, Busan keeper Sangwook Jeon made his lone save of the opening 45 minutes, easily handling the shot by forward Zac Walker.
Walker had a breakaway in the 55th minute with a wide open look at the goal. But he was called for a questionable offsides and the match remained scoreless until the shootout.