South Korea’s 67-year wait for glory will go on due to being knocked out by Jordan in the Semi-Finals.
Stepping into the competition they were one of the favourites to be taking the trophy home and since Japan got knocked out early, they must have believed they had one hand on the trophy. But that wasn’t the case when both Yazan Al-Naimat and Musa Al- Tammari scored against them for Jordan to win the tie 2-0. This was the second time in the tournament that they had played each other; the sides drew 2-2 in their second group match.
The South Korean side is at the strongest it has ever been with many high-quality players including Tottenham star, Heung Min Son, Wolves striker Hwang Hee Chan and Bayern Munich Centre Back, Kim Min-Jae. But even with their added quality it ended in the same result for the Koreans.
In the group stage they beat Bahrain 3-1 whilst drawing with Jordan (2-2) and Malaysia (3-3). Son managed to score a 94th minute penalty against the Malaysians to send them through to the knockouts, so it was nearly ended in an earlier heartbreak for them.
Whilst in the first knockout round they surpassed Saudi Arabia after beating them on penalties then went on to beat Australia 2-1 after Aiden O’Neill got sent off. After knocking out the Australians, Jurgen Klinsmann and his side must have believed that this could have been their year to finally win a trophy, but it wasn’t to be.
An underdog will now go on to win the Asian Cup which will be great for the competition. On Wednesday evening Iran will play Qatar and the winner will go onto play Jordan in the Final on Saturday. Iran have three Asian Cup titles to their name, but haven't won the trophy since 1976, whilst Qatar, the defending champions, could move one step away from consecutive continental titles.
Who do you think will win the Asian Cup?
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