South Korea’s stunning comeback breaks Saudi Arabian hearts
Al Jazeera
Saudi Arabia dominated for much of the last 16 Asian Cup clash but South Korea emerged victorious on penalties.
Education City Stadium, Qatar – It was a case of so near yet so far for thousands of Saudi Arabia fans, whose team faltered in the penalty shootout in their round-of-16 match against South Korea and were knocked out of the AFC Asian Cup 2023.
South Korea booked a quarterfinal date with Australia as their dogged display saw them win 4-2 on penalties after the match ended 1-1 following extra time at the Education City Stadium on Tuesday night.
Saudi Arabia dominated the game for much of normal time and enjoyed a 1-0 lead up until the dying moments of stoppage time but ultimately could not withstand the relentless South Korean attacks on their goal.
Cho Gue-Sung scored the equalising goal in the ninth minute of added time to the delight of the few hundred South Korean fans among the 42,000 spectators. He later slotted in his team’s third penalty to put them one kick away from a famous comeback win.
Hwang Hee-chan made no mistakes from the spot to spark wild celebrations in the Korean camp.
