Doha: The much fancied North Korea missed a penalty as they were held to 0-0 draw by the United Arab Emirates at the Asian Cup on Tuesday.
North Korea should have taken the lead in the 10th minute after Jong Tae Se was brought down by Hamdan Al Kamali in the area and Malaysian referee Subkhiddin Mohd Salleh immediately pointed to the spot.
But captain Hong Yong Jo blasted the spot-kick against the crossbar.
The Group D match in Doha was played in front of a disappointing crowd of less than 4,000 in the 12,500-seater Qatar Sports Club stadium. In the other group game Iran were due to play Iraq in the Al-Rayyan stadium later on Tuesday.
North Korea and the UAE began at a blistering pace with several chances in the first half, most notably the penalty for the Koreans.
Midway through the first half a comedy of errors nearly gifted UAE the opening goal as North Korea failed to clear the ball and a final attempt at a clearance went across the area, where Ismaeil Matar had a clear shot at goal, only to find goalkeeper Ri Myong Guk pull off a fantastic save.
Shortly afterwards Al Kamli came agonizingly close when he extended a free-kick with his head and it flew just over the crossbar.
Matar then saw a spectacular volley go just wide on the half-hour.
Neither side managed to create the clear-cut chances they had missed in the first-half after the break. The teams tried to find the opening goal through long-range shots but, as the game progressed, they seemed content to hold out for a draw.
However, Ismail Al Hammadi nearly snatched a winner for the UAE late in the game, forcing a fine save from an acute angle. A minute later Walid Abbas came close with a header that Ri did well to palm away.
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