The national soccer team on Wednesday lost 3-1 to a more fit Denmark in the final of the Carlsberg Cup in Hong Kong.

Though the team started off strong in the first half, player fatigue clearly was a factor as the game wore on as South Korea allowed a late Danish goal in the first half and two more in the second.

Striker Cho Jae-jin opened the scoring with a header in the 13th minute, but Denmark's Jacobsen Lars took a pass off a corner kick and blasted it into the right corner of the goal to tie the game in the 40th minute.

Jesper Bech put Denmark ahead in the second half when he kicked the ball above South Korean goalie Lee Woon-jae. Danish teammate Micheal Silberbauer finished the scoring in the 85th minute off a breakaway.

The loss was the first for South Korea to a European team since June 2004.