K League's Ulsan finish last at FIFA Club World Cup

▲ In this Reuters photo, members of Ulsan Hyundai FC celebrate a goal by Yoon Bitgaram (3rd from R) during their fifth-place match against Al Duhail SC at the FIFA Club World Cup at Ahmed Bin Ali Stadium in Al Rayyan, Qatar, on Feb. 7, 2021. (Yonhap)

▲ In this AFP photo, Yoon Bitgaram of Ulsan Hyundai FC takes a shot against Al Duhail SC during the teams' fifth-place match at the FIFA Club World Cup at Ahmed Bin Ali Stadium in Al Rayyan, Qatar, on Feb. 7, 2021. (Yonhap)

▲ In this Reuters photo, Seol Young-woo of Ulsan Hyundai FC (L) tries to fend off Ismaeel Mohammad of Al Duhail SC (R) during the teams' fifth-place match at the FIFA Club World Cup at Ahmed Bin Ali Stadium in Al Rayyan, Qatar, on Feb. 7, 2021. (Yonhap)

▲ In this Reuters photo, Ulsan Hyundai FC players huddle before the start of the second half of their fifth-place match against Al Duhail SC at the FIFA Club World Cup at Ahmed Bin Ali Stadium in Al Rayyan, Qatar, on Feb. 7, 2021. (Yonhap)

football club-tournament

K League's Ulsan finish last at FIFA Club World Cup

By Yoo Jee-ho

SEOUL, Feb. 8 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's Ulsan Hyundai FC have finished in last place at the FIFA Club World Cup with their second consecutive loss in Qatar.

Ulsan dropped to Al Duhail SC of Qatar 3-1 in the fifth place match of the FIFA tournament at Ahmed Bin Ali Stadium in Al Rayyan, just west of Doha, on Sunday (local time).

Edmilson Junior, Mohammed Muntari and Almoez Ali scored for the winning side. Yoon Bitgaram had the lone goal for Ulsan.

The Club World Cup brings together continental champions each year, plus the domestic league champions of the host country. Ulsan qualified for the event by winning the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League, and they lost the opening match to the Mexican club Tigres UANL, which won the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) Champions League.

Al Duhail, the Qatari league champions, had earlier lost to the African winners Al Ahly, setting up a fifth-place consolation match between Al Duhail and Ulsan.

Ulsan had also finished last with two straight losses in their first Club World Cup appearance in 2012.

Edmilson appeared to have given Al Duhail an early lead in the fourth minute, only to have his goal wiped out on an offside call, but the tone was set. The Belgian midfielder scored a goal that counted in the 21st minute after a nifty passing play with Ali Karimi.

Ulsan goalkeeper Jo Hyeon-woo stood his ground in net to deny Al Duhail some scoring chances and keep his club in the match. Yoon then netted the equalizer 17 minutes into the second half, thanks to a left-footed shot in a goalmouth scramble.

But Al Duhail regained the lead just four minutes later, as Muntari converted a feed from his Brazilian teammate Dudu.

Ali rounded out the scoring in the 82nd minute with some great individual effort.

Though Ulsan lost both matches on the field, their head coach Hong Myung-bo said there was still much to be gained from their experience.

"We had some new faces in both matches, and it was encouraging to see those players give their best for their future," said Hong, who made his Ulsan coaching debut in Qatar after taking the reins in December. "On the other hand, we weren't quite ready to play two matches, in terms of our conditioning and skill level, after preparing for the tournament over three weeks."

Hong traveled to Qatar shorthanded. Key veterans, such as midfielder Lee Chung-yong and defender Hong Chul, are still recovering from injuries and weren't with the club. Junior Negrao, the reigning K League scoring champion, is no longer with Ulsan. New acquisitions, such as Lukas Hinterseer, have barely had time to build chemistry with the rest of the squad.

One bright spot was the play of Yoon, the MVP of the AFC Champions League who picked up right where he left off. Yoon assisted on Ulsan's only goal in the loss to Tigres and scored one for himself Sunday.

"He can play at any position and still be very effective," Hong said. "He is an important part of our team, and I have high expectations of him going forward."

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