The China Mail - Myong hat-trick as North Korea cruise at Women's Asian Cup

The Koreans were totally dominant, striking early to pile the pressure on and there was no way back for an Uzbek side that lost their starting goalkeeper after 10 minutes to a neck injury.

Midfielder Myong clinically finished on the turn in the sixth minute after a goalmouth scramble to open their account in front of a mostly empty Western Sydney Stadium with a smattering of North Korean fans.

She doubled the lead with a penalty after Chae Un Yong was shoved over and made it 3-0 with another spot kick on 41 minutes, again planting the ball into the left-hand corner.

Uzbekistan failed to manage a single shot in the first half and it did not get any better when they returned.

The second half was again played almost exclusively in the Uzbek half, but they at least limited the damage with some solid defence keeping the scoreline in check.

One of Asia's most successful women's sides, North Korea are looking to replicate their titles from 2001, 2003 and 2008.

Their momentum from the 2000s was checked when they were banned from the 2015 World Cup qualifying for failed doping tests and they did not play any games from 2019 to 2023 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Ranked nine in the world, they are in Australia on the back of remarkable success with the U20 and U17 women's national teams.

They defended their U17 World Cup title in Morocco last year, having also triumphed at the U20 World Cup in Colombia in 2024.

China and Bangladesh are also in Group B and play each other later Tuesday.

R.Yeung--ThChM