South Korea and Honduras were knocked out of Olympic men's football tournament after a group match in Beijing on Wednesday, in which South Korea defeated Honduras 1-0.

South Korea could have qualified if they beat Honduras with a three-goal margin or more and Italy offered them a favor by defeating Cameroon.

But Italy tied Cameroon 0-0 in the end, then South Korea saw the end of their Beijing Olympic trip.

Honduras dominated the first half with skillful short passes. While they adopted a 3-5-2 formation, South Korea turned to a less attacking flat 4-4-2.

The situation was suddenly changed by Kim Dong Jin's 23rd minute goal following a backheeled wallpass from Lee Keun Ho. South Korea since then mounted fierce attacks against Honduras, creating a series of chances among which three perfect ones were unfortunately offside.

While South Korea found their rhythm, the Catrachos lost theirs, with modest good moments when Emil Martinez contributed several deflected shots.

The second half started with two clear chances within one minute, but South Korea missed them. Luck seemed not on their side, as Park Chu-Young's free kicks didn't work and some beautiful shots were tipped over by the lively Honduras goalkeeper Obed Enamorado.

Catrachos intensified both defensive and offensive efforts, but the lack of organization and discipline made their individual techniques helpless except for some inefficient long shots.

(Xinhua News Agency August 13, 2008)