Late goal rush by Uruguay buries Hong Kong hopes of Carlsberg Cup

AFP - Three late goals in the space of five minutes killed off any hopes of a shock win for hosts Hong Kong, who lost 3-0 to Uruguay at the Lunar New Year Carlseberg Cup tournament here Saturday.

After holding their more illustrious opponents scoreless for 84 minutes, a tiring Hong Kong League XI defence leaked three goals to give the South Americans a berth in the February 4 final of the annual event.

Julio Rodriguez broke the deadlock when he fired in a superb 25-yard free kick. Two minutes later Horacio Peralta scored with a breathtaking piece of individual play when he dribbled past two defenders and then rounded Hong Kong goalkeeper Fan Chun-yip to tap the ball in to an open goal.

Substitute Pablo Munhoz completed the rout with a fierce drive from the edge of the penalty area in the 89th minute to give Uruguay a well-deserved 3-0 victory.

"It was hard work. The players are still tired and have still not got over their jet-lag but there was no doubt at all whether we would win," said Uruguayan coach Gustavo Ferrin.

"All three goals we scored were excellent. Once we got the first goal, I knew we could score more," added Ferrin.

Hong Kong came closest to scoring when striker Rochi Putiray netted the ball in the 40th minute but his effort was ruled offside.

"We played well for 80 minutes but if we can´t score there is no way we can win matches. The opening goal by Uruguay was a world-class goal and that was the difference. If we had scored first it might have been a different story," said Hong Kong coach Kwok Ka-ming.

Uruguay will meet Iran in the final on February 4. Iran beat Denmark 1-0 in the earlier match with mid-fielder Javed Nekounam successfully converting a penalty in the 48 minute.

"We were under pressure for most of the match. It is satisfying to beat a team like Denmark and be in the final. Our expectations are high," said Iran´s caretaker coach Homayoun Shahrokhi.

Denmark clearly had the best of the first half and came close to scoring on a number of occasions. Forward Soren Berg was just wide off the mark with a couple of headers while Thomas Larsen also missed in the 13th minute when he hit a volley wide and was denied by Iranian goalkeeper Ebrahim Mirzapour who stole the ball from Larsen´s feet in the 30 minute.

"We came here to win the Cup. But it is our fault that we are not in the final. We had our chances and we did not take it," said disappointed Danish coach Morten Olsen.