Korea silence raucous home crowd with 2-0 quarterfinal win

Korea confidently dismantled China in a 2-0 quarterfinals win at the Asian Games on Sunday, booking a spot in the final four at the U-24 tournament.

Hong Hyun-seok celebrates after scoring the opening goal in an Asian Games quarterfinal between Korea and China in Hangzhou, China on Sunday. [YONHAP]

Korea confidently dismantled China in a 2-0 quarterfinals win at the Asian Games on Sunday, booking a spot in the final four at the U-24 tournament.

Korea struck twice in the first half with goals from Hong Hyun-seok of KAA Gent and Song Min-kyu of Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors to beat the home side, sitting slightly deeper in the second half to hold off the Chinese attacks and ensure the victory.

It was a fairly unpleasant atmosphere at HSC Stadium in Hangzhou, China, with the very one-sided crowd making their support for the home side known not only by cheering their own players, but also by jeering the Korean squad and, in a few instances, audibly booing during the national anthem.

Hong did not take long to respond, celebrating his 17th-minute goal with the universal “shhh” sign. Song added his effort to the mix in the 35th minute — celebrated with the “I can’t hear you” hands behind the ears gesture to a suddenly very quiet crowd — and it was quickly clear that no amount of crowd noise was going to put the young Taeguk Warriors down.

Lee Kang-in was once again absent from the squad from the start, appearing only for the final 27 minutes of the game alongside Um Won-sang and Jeong Woo-yeong. Captain Paik Seung-ho remained the anchor in the midfield for the full 90 minutes, with Hong, Song, Goh Young-jun and Cho Young-wook instead forming the midfield.

Referee Qasim Matar Ali Al-Hatmi of Oman ensured a fairly clean game — something that has been a cause for some concern in some games at the Asiad — although he did have his work cut out for him in the final 20 minutes or so as the increasingly desperate Chinese side upped the aggression.

Korea now advance to the semifinals where they will face Uzbekistan, who beat Saudi Arabia 2-1 on the other side of the bracket on Sunday. The winner of that game moves on to the final to take on either Hong Kong or Japan.

Korea will face Uzbekistan in the semifinals on Wednesday at 8 p.m. in China, or 9 p.m. in Korea.

BY JIM BULLEY [jim.bulley@joongang.co.kr]