South Korea, Australia in semis of Asian Cup
January 22, 2015
Thursday's match between South Korea and Uzbekistan in Melbourne's Rectangular Stadium was a test of nerves for both sides. It was the first quarter-final in the Asian Cup so far, and for ninety long minutes it wasn't clear which side would be sent home. The squads went into extra time tied at 0-0.
The first half of extra time looked to be ending goalless as well, but South Korea's Son Heung-min scored in the 104th minute to give his side a 1-0 advantage.
It was just the shift in momentum the Koreans needed to gain the upper hand, and the Bayer Leverkusen forward scored again just before full time to end the game 2-0.
The goals were South Korea's fourth and fifth of the tournament so far, but their streak of no goals conceded in the competition continued, spanning now six-and-a-half hours over their four matches played.
South Korea will face either Iran or Iraq in a semifinal match on Monday in Sydney. The match between Iran and Iraq will be decided Friday in Canberra.
Socceroos into semis
Hosts Australia then faced China in Thursday's second quarter-final, in Brisbane. Australia were considered slight favorites before the game, despite the fact China were unbeaten through their group.
With chances being fluffed by either side in the first-half, it felt like an experienced head or a moment of magic would help to decide the tight affair. In the end, both came at once. Tim Cahill has made a habit of scoring spectacular goals on the world's biggest stage and his exploits in this game were no different.
Just four minutes after the restart, an innocuous header back into the box from Ivan Franjic following an Australian corner went in the direction of Cahill. With little space to work, the 35-year old showed audacious ability to score with a spectacular overhead kick, angling the ball past an astonished Wang Dalei in the China goal.
Before the crowd had fully recovered, Cahill sealed the win with twenty-five minutes to play with as much of a trademark goal, using his head. Australia will now play either Japan or the United Arab Emirates in next week's semi-final. Those two teams face off on Friday in the final quarterfinal.
mz/apc (Reuters, AFP, dpa)