Seol Young-woo and Son Heung-min have been named to the Asian Cup quarterfinal best 11.
Jürgen Klinsmann’s South Korea national soccer team defeated Australia 2-1 in extra time in the quarterfinals of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) 2023 Qatar Asian Cup at Al Janoub Stadium in Al Wakrah, Qatar, at 0:30 a.m. ET on Wednesday. With the win, South Korea advances to the semifinals and will face Jordan.
South Korea’s hard-fought victory over Saudi Arabia saw them return to a back four. Cho Kyu-sung, who scored the dramatic equalizer in the last match against Saudi Arabia, started up front, while Hwang Hee-chan started up top. Other key players like Son Heung-min, Lee Kang-in, Hwang In-beom, Kim Min-jae, and Kim Young-kwon were also in the starting lineup.
South Korea gritted their teeth. Nine years ago, this was the same opponent that caused them heartache on the same stage. Back then, South Korea finished as runners-up, losing 1-2 in overtime to Australia in the final. Son Heung-min, who is now the captain but was the youngest member of the lineup at the time, was in tears after the game.
South Korea dominated the game until the midway point. They had nearly 70 percent of the possession and used the speed and aggression of Son Heung-min and Hwang Hee-chan to put pressure on their opponents. In the 32nd minute, Hwang Hee-chan opened the scoring, but the goal was disallowed after Seol Young-woo was caught offside.
After surviving the scare, Australia set the tone. Craig Goodwin scored the first goal in the 42nd minute to take the lead. For the second time in as many games against Saudi Arabia, South Korea found themselves down in the dying minutes of the game. In the second half, Hwang Hee-chan scored a penalty kick to even the score.
Once again, the game went into overtime. However, it didn’t go to a penalty shootout. ‘Captain’ Son Heung-min stepped up to the plate. In the 14th minute of overtime, Hwang Hee-chan earned a free kick near the penalty box line. Son stepped up to take the kick and calmly took the shot, and the ball took a beautiful trajectory to split the Australian goal. Nine years earlier, Son had been brought to his knees by Australia and scored the winning 카지노사이트 goal himself, perfectly avenging that defeat.
Iran, Qatar, and Uzbekistan were the other quarterfinalists. After the quarterfinals were completed, the AFC took to its official account to reveal the best 11 of the quarterfinals. South Korea were represented by Son Heung-min and Seol Young-woo.
Seol was named to the Best 11 for the first time in the tournament. Seol, who started the game, impressed the Korean public with his work rate and stamina in the final minutes of the match, especially his mad sprint in the second half of extra time.
Son Heung-min was the hero of the match. He dribbled his way into a penalty corner late in the second half and scored the game-winning goal in overtime with an incredible free kick.
Iran’s victory over Japan was a triumph. Sardar Azmoun, Mohammed Mohebi, and Alireza Jahanbakhsh were the stars of the show. Qatar had two, Jordan and Japan had one, and Uzbekistan and Australia had one each. Craig Goodwin, the lone Australian selection, looked the most threatening and even scored against South Korea.