Saudi Arabia and South Korea Clash in AFC Asian Cup knockout rounds

 

Two-time winners of the Asian Cup, South Korea, have been handed a tough round of 16 clash against three-time winners of the competition, Saudi Arabia. The pairing was confirmed on Thursday after the South Koreans were held to a 3-3 draw by Malaysia, which saw South Korea finish second behind Bahrain in Group E.

W.Y. Jeong scored in the 21st minute to give them a lead into the halftime break, but what followed was an unexpected second half where Malaysia equalized and led with two quick goals in ten second-half minutes through F. Abdul Halim in the 51st minute and a penalty from A. A. Hanapi in the 62nd minute.

An own goal in the 84th minute and a Son Heung-Min penalty four minutes into stoppage time looked like the winner for the South Koreans until an R. Morales 90+15 strike earned Malaysia their first and only point of the tournament.

The result was not totally bad, as South Korea managed to avoid Japan in the next round of the competition, an occurrence South Korea coach Jurgen Klinsmann denied was premeditated.

“We didn’t want to avoid Japan; it definitely wasn’t our plan to concede three goals today. We wanted to go through it in the first place; that was our goal. Malaysia played with a lot of heart, and you have to give them credit, but we should have won this game.” Klinsmann said. 

Meanwhile, Australia will face Indonesia while Japan will play Bahrain, hosts Qatar will clash with Palestinians, and Uzbekistan play Thailand, among others.

AFC Asian Cup Round Of 16 Fixtures:

Jan. 28: Australia vs Indonesia.

Jan. 28: Tajikistan vs UAE.

Jan. 29: Iraq vs Jordan.

Jan. 29: Qatar vs Palestine.

Jan. 30: Uzbekistan vs Thailand.

Jan. 30: Saudi Arabia vs South Korea.

Jan. 31: Bahrain vs Japan.

Jan. 31: Iran vs Syria.

Daniel Ademiju Idowu