Unexpected heroes lead Korea to Asian Cup quarterfinals

Korea beat Saudi Arabia 4-2 on penalties to advance to the quarterfinals at the 2023 Asian Cup on Tuesday, avoiding an early flight home by just a single minute as Cho Gue-sung and Jo Hyeon-woo proved to be the unexpected heroes of the night

Korea's Cho Gue-sung controls the ball during the Asian Cup round of 16 match between Saudi Arabia and Korea at Education City Stadium in Al Rayyan, Qatar on Tuesday. [AP/YONHAP]

Korea beat Saudi Arabia 4-2 on penalties to advance to the quarterfinals at the 2023 Asian Cup on Tuesday, avoiding an early flight home by just a single minute as Cho Gue-sung and Jo Hyeon-woo proved to be the unexpected heroes of the night.

Cho, who started the group stage games but failed to impress, came on as a substitute to head in an equalizer nine minutes into 10 minutes of stoppage time at the end of the second half, forcing extra time and eventually penalties.

It was then that Jo, Korea’s second-choice keeper pushed back into the starting squad for the first time in a few years after an injury to Kim Seung-gyu, stepped up to carry Korea through a penalty shootout and into the quarterfinals.

The redemption of Cho and Jo aside — or partial redemption, as neither had a particularly impressive game outside of those key moments and Cho at one point panicked in front of an open goal and passed the ball away — Tuesday’s game at Education City Stadium in Qatar did little to answer growing concerns over Klinsmann and his squad, who have failed to dominate against far-lower ranked teams in every single game of the tournament so far.

Korea's goalkeeper Jo Hyeon-woo celebrates during a penalty shootout at the end of the Asian Cup round of 16 match between Saudi Arabia and Korea at Education City Stadium in Al Rayyan, Qatar on Tuesday. [AP/YONHAP]

It was a nervy start for both sides, Korea struggling to adapt to a sudden change to a 3-4-3 formation with Jeong Woo-yeong, Son Heung-min and Lee Kang-in in front. Yet despite the theoretical difference in ranking — Korea at No. 23 to Saudi Arabia’s 56 — it was the Middle Eastern side that eventually wrestled control of the game, shutting down all of Korea’s attacks and mounting far more threatening attempts of their own at the other end of the pitch.

After narrowly dodging a goal shortly before the break — Saudi Arabia hit the crossbar two times in about as many seconds — Korea fell behind within seconds of the whistle at the start of the second half, the Middle Eastern side playing the ball straight forward from kick-off and beating Jo for a 1-0 lead.

That goal could well have been it for the game, Korea struggling to find any response for over 45 minutes despite the addition of Hwang Hee-chan and Cho to the attack. Korea’s answer finally came at the last possible minute, Cho heading in an equalizer nine minutes into stoppage time to push the game into extra time.

It was quiet again in the first half of extra time, Korea manager Jurgen Klinsmann opting not to make any changes as the game pushed past the 100-minute mark.

Korea took control after the short break, offering a few brief moments of excitement but struggling to do anything with it. Lee came close, producing perhaps the best shot of the game, testing the Saudi keeper but failing to get it past his outstretched hands.

With nothing going in extra time, the game advanced to penalties — potentially bad news for Korea with Jo in front of the posts instead of Kim.

But while both teams scored their first two penalties — Son and Kim Young-gwon for Korea —Jo came through on the third, opening the door for the Taeguk Warriors to take the win. Cho then scored his, putting Korea 3-2 up after three penalties.

Jo came through again, saving the Saudi No. 4 to put Korea one goal away from the quarterfinals. After a brief pause during which Saudi Arabia manager Roberto Mancini — he of Manchester City and Italy fame — walked out with the shootout still going on, the honor of the final penalty fell to Hwang Hee-chan, who fired the ball into the top right corner for the win.

“I had confidence that I could make some saves for my team. I’m happy I could take my team through to the next round,” Jo told reporters.

Korea's Hwang Hee-Chan, right, celebrates with goalkeeper Jo Hyeon-Woo after scoring the winning penalty in a penalty shootout at the end of the Asian Cup round of 16 match between Saudi Arabia and Korea at the Education City Stadium in Qatar on Tuesday. [AP/YONHAP]

Speaking after the game, Klinsmann remained positive.

"We feel very, very proud of this team that believed in coming back the whole game," Klinsmann said after the game. "It was drama. This team went better and better. We should have scored earlier. At least we won the penalty shootout. This team is fantastic. They deserved this win.

"We were prepared for the penalty shootout. We trained for penalties. We were mentally prepared for it. It was wonderful to see all four execute it calmly and precisely. We absolutely deserved to win."

Korea will now advance to face Australia in the quarterfinals on Friday evening, or at 12:30 a.m. on Saturday morning in Korea.

That game promises an even bigger test for the Taeguk Warriors.

After failing to beat world No. 87 Jordan and No. 130 Malaysia, and only just edging past No. 86 Bahrain and No. 56 Saudi Arabia, Korea will now have to find a way to beat No. 25 Australia, a team that ranks just two spots below Korea in the FIFA World Ranking and one spot below when it comes to Asian teams.

If Korea manages to survive that game, they could then come up against Jordan again in the semifinals — assuming they make it past Tajikistan in their quarterfinal — and then presumably either Japan, Iran or Qatar in the final.

"Australia will be as much drama as Saudi Arabia,” Klinsmann said. “They deserve a lot of respect. It's a very good team.

"We have two days less of recovery time between our games. But we will give everything we have against Australia. We want to go until the end of the tournament. This team is capable of doing that."

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