SUWON, South Korea - Japan's Tokyo Verdy Beleza were beaten 1-0 by Naegohyang of North Korea in the Women's Asian Champions League final on Saturday.
Tournament debutants Beleza fell at the last hurdle and were unable to present a win in the career finale for their 39-year-old defender and 2011 World Cup winner Azusa Iwashimizu, who remained on the bench in Suwon, South Korea.
"Frustration was a driving force throughout my career as a footballer, and it might be fitting that it ended with another at the end," said a tearful Iwashimizu, who kept playing after giving birth to her son in 2020 at the only club of her professional career.
Beleza forward Yuzuho Shiokoshi had a shot from the edge of the box saved in the 16th minute following a flowing attack down the left, while Naegohyang grew into the game before taking their only real chance of the first half in the 44th minute.
Jong Kum beat her marker to receive the long ball down the left on a counter and set up Kim Kyong Yong, who guided the ball into the bottom-right corner beyond a diving Beleza keeper Shu Oba.
Beleza, who needed Oba to deny Kim's header minutes after the break, had to wait until the introduction of Rihona Ujihara midway through the half for ideas in the final third as Naegohyang saw the game out to secure the title for the first time.
"We couldn't win our duels at all from the start, something that proved to be our weakness and their strength," Shiokoshi said. "It's not an easy stage to win, we don't know when our next chance will be, but we can't waste this sense of frustration."
Naegohyang's participation marked the first time a North Korean sports team played in South Korea in more than seven years.
Spectators included South Koreans who supported the North Korean team, hoping to see improvement in inter-Korean relations that have hit a new low.
Park Yong Sang, a 70-year-old from Seoul, said he came to support the North Korean side.
"We're one people and it's that simple," Park said, adding that he had also come to see Wednesday's semifinal, where he cheered for South Korea's Suwon FC Women against the same North Korean club.
Asked why he switched sides for the final, Park said that he hoped the team's visit could serve as a catalyst for inter-Korean exchanges.
"I came hoping to contribute, even just in spirit."
In the stands, a boy turned to his friend sitting next to him and said, "Maybe if things keep going like this, we could even reunify, right?"
Sports and civilian exchanges between the two Koreas have been suspended since the end of 2018, following a brief thaw in ties around the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics. The two nations remain technically at war after the 1950-1953 Korean War ended in an armistice.
