‘Captain’ Son Heung-min advanced to the semifinals with a great comeback thanks to his individual skills Next is Jordan, who drew in the group stage.
National team players taking a team photo
The 2023 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup quarterfinals match between Korea and Australia held at Al Janoub Stadium in Al Wakrah, Qatar on the 2nd (local time). Korean national team players are taking a team photo.
Korean soccer, which is challenging its first Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup title in 64 years, advanced to the semifinals by beating its tough opponent Australia after extra time. However, there is still a difficult road ahead to reach the top.
The national soccer team led by coach Jurgen Klinsmann advanced to the semifinals by winning 2-1 after overtime in the quarterfinals of the 2023 Asian Cup against Australia held at Al Janoub Stadium in Al Wakrah, Qatar on the 3rd (Korean time).
Korea, which is now two games away from winning its third Asian Cup title, will compete with Jordan, which reached the semifinals of the Asian Cup for the first time, to advance to the finals at midnight on the 7th.
Although they achieved a dramatic victory over Australia, their final opponent nine years ago, the process was not smooth.
On this day, in the Klinsmann Lake where Cho Kyu-seong (Midtjylland) was at the forefront, ‘Captain’ Son Heung-min (Tottenham) took on the role of shadow striker, and Hwang Hee-chan (Wolverhampton), who had recovered from an injury, was selected as a starter for the first time in this tournament and took charge of the left flank attack. On the other side, Lee Kang-in (Paris Saint-Germain) appeared.
Son Heung-min scores a comeback goal
In the English Premier League (EPL), there are two strikers (Son Heung-min with 12 goals and Hwang Hee-chan with 10 goals) who are scoring double-digit scores this season, and they have Asia’s best ‘luxury strike line’.
With these players, Klinsmann seemed to be leading the game with around 70% possession, but was unable to open the goal until 45 minutes into the second half.
The attack was not threatening enough that there were no shots, let alone effective shots, in the first half, and the first shot of the game came in the second half, but the individual skills of Son Heung-min, a former EPL scorer and world-class star, ultimately changed the flow of the game and resulted in victory.
In the second half, the national team was not able to record many shots and in extra time, when the defeat was deepening, Hwang Hee-chan scored a penalty kick created by Son Heung-min after breaking through the left side of the penalty area, and the equalizer was scored.
Then, in the 14th minute of the first half of extra time, Son Heung-min scored the winning goal with a free kick, literally making it a game where ‘Son Heung-min did it all’.
The defense also left some disappointment.
At the end of the first half, a pass was broken around the penalty area and the opponent’s pass play was allowed to continue, leading to the first goal conceded in the 42nd minute of the first half, which became an excuse to continue a difficult game.
Nathaniel Atkinson crossed the ball to the right from Connor Mattcalf in the center of the penalty area, and Craig Goodwin, who has a good left foot, finished with a volley from the left side of the goal area. Free movement was allowed without any significant defensive challenge.
As a result, Klinsmann conceded a goal in every game in this tournament.
Following the round of 16 match against Saudi Arabia on the 31st of last month, which resulted in a difficult 1-1 score in extra time in the second half and a penalty shootout after going into extra time, the team suffered a setback by allowing the first goal in both games.
Even in the second half, when they attempted to counterattack after conceding a goal, the defense gap widened and allowed the opponent into dangerous situations on several occasions. If it had not been for the saves of goalkeeper Jo Hyun-woo (Ulsan), they would have conceded a large number of goals and would not have even thought about going into overtime. 토토사이트