S. Korea grind down Iran to seal penalty win

Sports / Soccer

S. Korea grind down Iran to seal penalty win

(Reuters)
Updated: 2007-07-23 09:03

South Korea beat Iran 4-2 on penalties after a gruelling 0-0 draw in
humid conditions to reach the Asian Cup semi-finals on Sunday.

Kim Jung-woo converted the winning spot-kick to send the inexperienced
Koreans through to a last-four clash with Iraq on Wednesday at the same
Bukit Jalil Stadium.

Victory avenged Korea's 4-3 quarter-final loss to Iran at the 2004 Asian
Cup in China and levelled their Asian Cup quarter-final meetings over
four consecutive tournaments at 2-2.

Korea coach Pim Verbeek was pleased that his young players stood up to a
virtual Iranian World Cup line-up.

"I'm very proud of the team," Verbeek told reporters. "They worked very
hard against a strong team and finished the game very strongly.

"They were mentally prepared for the penalty kicks and we can now look
forward to the next game against Iraq."

Iran, who practised penalties specially in training, used substitute
goalkeeper Vahid Taliblou for the shootout, replacing Hassan Roudbarian
in the 119th-minute.

But Verbeek's players had the cooler heads, sending their more than 4,000
vocal Korean supporters into ecstasy.

Iran coach Amir Ghalenoei felt his team dominated the match against the
2002 World Cup semi-finalists.

"That's football," he said. "The players did exactly what I asked them to
but only the final touch let them down.

"I am happy with their performance and I am the one who should take full
responsibility for this defeat."

Showing good individual skills and support play, the Koreans had a
dominant spell midway through the first half, with Oh Beom-seok stumbling
after a mazy run and Lee Chun-soo's deflected shot well saved by
Roudbarian.

Iran's best chance of the half came in the 42nd minute when Ali Karimi
found himself one-on-one with Korean goalkeeper Lee Woon-jai, who saved
at his feet.

DEFENSIVE MISTAKE

Iran pressed forward after halftime but a rare defensive mistake in the
60th minute allowed Yeom Ki-hun a good chance to shoot from outside the
box.

With neither side able to break the deadlock, the match went to extra
time. Iran had the better chances but tired legs meant the match ended at
snail's pace.

Lee, an experienced shootout campaigner for Korea, emerged as the hero
with his two saves and was also named man of the match.

Iran captain Mehdi Mahdavikia and Rassoul Khatibi missed their spot-kicks
and only Kim Do-heon failed for the Koreans.

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