“Son Heung-min is such an outstanding and smart player.” Veteran Australian GK who sighed and took a deep breath… 4 games allowed 1 point → 2 points to Korea
Australia’s goalkeeper Matthew Ryan explained the penalty kick situation Son Heung-min got.
The Korean national soccer team, led by coach Jürgen Klinsmann, won 2-1 against Australia in the quarterfinals of the 2023 Asian Football Confederation Qatar Asian Cup held at Al-Zanub Stadium in Al-Wakra, Qatar, at 12:30 a.m. on Saturday (Korea time). As a result, Korea has advanced to the semifinals and will face Jordan.
It was a 120-minute movie again this time. Early in the first half, Korea sought an opportunity to attack by increasing its market share. Hwang Hee-chan shook the net once in the 31st minute of the first half, but Seol Young-woo, who helped assist, unfortunately got the goal canceled. At the end of the first half, Korea, which gave Australia the lead, was dragged away when Craig Goodwin gave the first goal.
In the second half of the extra time, a golden opportunity came. A penalty was declared when Son Heung-min tripped over by an Australian player inside the box. Hwang Hee-chan confidently stepped out as a kicker and scored neatly, and the game returned to 1-1 in the 6 minutes of extra time in the second half.
After the extra time began, South Korea once again had a chance. In the 11th minute of the first half of extra time, Hwang Hee-chan won a free kick from the outside of the box, and Son Heung-min, who played as a kicker, scored a come-from-behind goal with a perfect kick. Eventually, Korea headed to the semifinals 2-1 after extra time.
It was a somber day for Ryan, who is Australia’s captain and goalkeeper. He is a veteran player who played for Alkmaar in the Netherlands after playing for prestigious pro teams such as Valencia, Arsenal, Real Sociedad, and Copenhagen. He also participated in the 2015 Asian Cup, and before this year’s Asian Cup, he wore a face mask due to injury and fought hard.
Before meeting with South Korea, he showed off his solid defense by scoring only one run in four games, but he eventually had to pack up in the quarterfinals by conceding two goals without blocking penalties and free kicks by Hwang Hee-chan and Son Heung-min.
After the game, Ryan said with a sigh in an interview with Japanese media Soccer Digest. “It’s hard to find words to explain this disappointment. Our competition is coming to an end. Everyone is very disappointed. I didn’t see any replay of the game. Son Heung-min is a very good player and smart player. He was also punished by the referee for the painful red card. Unfortunately, it didn’t go my way,” he said.
This avenged South Korea’s 1-2 loss to Australia in the 2015 Asian Cup final in overtime. South Korea will have a rematch in the semifinal against Jordan, who met once in the group stage on the 7th.
BY: 스포츠토토