By Pearse McLaughlin
Second half goals from Yazan Al-Naimat and Musa Al-Taamari give Jordan a shock two nil victory over South Korea here at the Ahmad bin Ali Stadium in Al Rayyan, Qatar. Jordan are now into Sunday’s Asian Cup Final for the very first time where they will face the winner of Iran and Qatar as they play their Semi Final tie tomorrow night.
Houssaine Ammouta has stuck with his 3-4-2-1 formation that saw his Jordan side beat Tajikistan 1-0 in the Quarter Finals. In terms of personnel changes he has made three changes as in comes Bara Marie, Nizar Al Rashdan, and Mohammed Hasheesh to replace Salem Al Ajalin, Rajaei Ayed, and Ali Iyad Olwan.
Jurgen Klinsmann has changed his shape slightly from the 4-2-3-1 formation that saw his South Korea side scrape past Australia 2-1 after extra time and gone with the 4-3-3 formation as he looks for more solidity in the middle of the park. In terms of personnel changes he has made two changes as in comes Jung Seung-Hyeon and Lee Jae-Sung to replace the suspended Kim Min-Jae and Cho Gue-Sung drops to the bench as Hwang Hee-Chan is preferred through the middle.
Son Heung-Min thought he had opened the scoring for South Korea on the 18th minute as he dinked the ball over the onrushing Yazeed Yazeed Abulaila and into the back of the net. But, it was flagged for offside as Son Heung-Min went too early and was at least a few yards offside as he latched onto Jung Seung-Hyeon’s long raking ball in behind the Jordan backline. The offside was the right decision as Son Heung-Min was clearly offside but South Korea showing their intent early on.
On the 26th minute Yazan Al-Naimat collects a loose ball in the middle of the park following Parl Yong-Woo’s missed interception and danced through the South Korea defence as he beat four men with ease but was denied brilliantly by Cho Hyun-Woo as dived to his left and parried the ball to safety. Terrific run by Yazan Al-Naimat only a pity he was faced by the ever reliable Cho Hyun-Woo who was equal to his powerful left footed drive.
A few minutes later, Jordan threaten again and this time it is Musa Al-Taamari to threaten the South Korea goal as his curling effort goes just a few yards over the bar. Yazan Al-Naimat drove inside from the right wing and wasn’t closed down quickly enough by Kim Young-Gwon so he tried to use him as a marker and bend the ball into the top left hand corner but couldn’t come down quickly enough as it just goes over the bar.
A minute later, Seol Young-Woo thought he had won a penalty kick for South Korea after he appeared to be fouled by Yazan Abu Al-Arab inside the box but after a quick VAR review the decision was overturned and Jordan were awarded a free kick instead as Seol Young-Woo appeared to stamp on Yazan Abu Al-Arab in their coming together. Massive call and I think the officials came to the right decision.
South Korea were millimetres from breaking the deadlock thanks to Lee Jae-Sung’s header on the 32nd minute as it crashes off the right hand post. Lee Jae-Sung got on the end of the Kim Tae-Hwan’s floated ball into the box and from the penalty spot he directed a header towards goal and was destined for the right hand corner but crashes off the post and bounces clear. Lee Jae-Sung should have down a lot better with his header as he was unopposed from six-yards. Massive chance missed and really should have been the opening goal.
Just before the break, Yazan Al-Naimat showed terrific footwork and skill to nutmeg and dance past three South Korean defenders before firing a trivela shot towards goal but Cho Hyun-Woo came out and spread himself well and denied a certain goal with his face to keep the scores level. Yazan Al-Naimat has led the line beautifully for Jordan and will be wondering what he has to do to beat Cho Hyun-Woo in goal as he has been colossal in between the sticks. It somehow remains 0-0.
It’s level at the break between Jordan and South Korea in this end-to-end semi final clash. Both sides have attacked well and probably think that they both should have scored but for some poor finishing and expert goalkeeping heroics it remains 0-0. I expect more of the same in the second half as both sides will be chasing a winner to reach the Asian Cup Final. It ended in a 2-2 draw in match day 2 of Group E between these two sides as South Korea rescued a late point against Jordan and I could potentially see it going the distance again with extra time and potentially penalties on the horizon. Regardless it is set for a grand stand finish to this entertaining semi final clash.
Breakthrough for Jordan on the 53rd minute thanks to Yazan Al-Naimat’s dinked finish over Cho Hyun-Woo. South Korea are the architects of their own downfall as Park Yong-Woo sloppily gives the ball away in the middle of the park which Musa Al-Taamari pounced upon before feeding a perfectly weighted pass through to Yazan Al-Naimat who coolly lofts the ball over the onrushing Cho Hyun-Woo and into the back of the net. An exquisite finish by Yazan Al-Naimat. Jordan lead South Korea 1-0.
Nearly an instant impact from Cho Gue-Sung from the bench on the hour mark as he nicked in front of the goalkeeper and diverted a header towards goal but sees his header go narrowly over the crossbar. Superb delivery from the corner yet again by Lee Kang-In and Cho Gue-Sung should be keeping his header down as he had an open goal to aim at and anywhere on target and it is a goal. Massive opportunity squandered. It remains 1-0.
Jordan are in Dreamland as they have only gone and doubled their lead on the 67th minute thanks to a superb curling effort by Musa Al-Taamari. Again another sloppy pass in the middle of the park this time by Hwang In-Beom who gets dispossessed by Musa Al-Taamari just inside his own half drives 40 yards with the ball before cutting inside Hwang In-Beom who falls over before Musa curls the ball with his left foot into the bottom left hand corner and with Cho Hyun-Woo at full stretch he couldn’t get near it. Jordan now lead 2-0. South Korea now have a mountain to climb to find two goals in just over twenty minutes plus stoppage time or they will crash out a the semi final stage.
A matter of minutes later, Mohammed Hasheesh denies what looked like a certain goal as he tackled Lee Kang-In from behind and pokes the ball out for a corner. It was a lovely give and go by Son Heung-Min and Lee Kang-In with the latter now one-on-one and was about to pull the trigger from just outside the six-yard-box but for a last ditch challenge from Mohammed Hasheesh to toe the ball away from behind. Superb last ditch defending from Mohammed Hasheesh as he denies South Korea a route back into this match.
Two minutes from time and a moment to forget for Cho Gue-Sung as he tried to con the referee for a penalty after Bara Marie dived in and stuck out a leg but no contact was made. Cho Gue-Sung was rightly booked for simulation and a terrific spot by Mohamed Abdulla Hassan Mohd. Shocking dive.
Eight minutes of stoppage time have been added on at the end of the game. South Korea can’t score two goals in added time and rescue themselves again can they? Or will Jordan hang on for a famous victory? All to play for in the final eight minutes of this exciting semi final clash.
It’s all over here at the Ahmad bin Ali Stadium in Al Rayyan, Qatar as Jordan defeats the tournament favourites South Korea 2-0. It was a step too far for South Korea as they couldn’t rescue it late on like they had down in the last 16 against Saudi Arabia where they triumphed 4-2 on penalties after a 1-1 draw, and in the quarter finals they scored in stoppage time again and won the match 2-1 in extra time. Jordan thoroughly deserved their win as the two goals were straight out of the top drawer, they defended like their lives depended on it, and just wanted it more. South Korea put in another poor performance and luck couldn’t help them this time.
Jurgen Klinsmann will now receive calls for his head as they have been defeated by Jordan in the semi final of the Asian Cup which was a trophy they were expected to go on and win. Performances haven’t been the greatest in this tournament and it remains to be seen if Klinsmann can survive this shock defeat.
Jordan: Yazeed Yazeed Abulaila, Abdallah Nasib, Yazan Abu Al-Arab, Bara Marie, Ehsan Haddad, Nizar Al Rashdan (Rajaei Ayed 90+2’), Noor Al-Rawabdeh, Mohammad Hasheesh, Musa Al-Taamari, Mahmoud Al Mardi (Ibrahim Sami 90+2’), Yazan Al-Naimat (Anas Hamad 85’). Subs not used: Salem Al Ajalin, Ali Iyad Olwan, Fadi Awad, Yousef Abu Jalboush, Abdullah Al Fakhouri, Ahmad Al Juaidi, Feras Shelbaieh, Anas Bani Yaseen, Saleh Rateb, Mohammed Abu Zrayq.
South Korea: Cho Hyun-Woo, Kim Tae-Hwan, Jung Seung-Hyeon, Kim Young-Gwon, Seol Young-Woo, Hwang In-Beom, Park Yong-Woo (Cho Gue-Sung 56’), Lee Jae-Sung (Jeong Woo-Yeong 81’), Lee Kang-In, Hwang Hee-Chan (Yang Hyun-Jun 81’), Son Heung-Min. Subs not used: Song Bum-Keun, Lee Ki-Jee, Kim Jin-Su, Kim Ji-Soo, Lee Soon-Min, Hong Hyun-Seok, Park Jin-Seob, Oh Hyun-Gyu.
Referee: Mohamed Abdulla Hassan Mohd
Reporter: Pearse McLaughlin
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