Son Heung-min scored a stunning
free-kick in extra time as South Korea fought back to beat Australia 2-1 on
Friday and set up an Asian Cup semi-final against Jordan.
It was another great
escape for the Koreans, who needed a 96th-minute penalty from Hwang
Hee-chan to stay alive after Australia took the lead
in the first half through Craig Goodwin.
It was the fourth time in five games
that Jurgen Klinsmann's South Korea had scored in
second-half injury time in Qatar. Tottenham's Son, Asia's best
player and South Korea's skipper, had yet to fully make his mark at
the tournament but he delivered when it counted.
First he won a penalty when Lewis Miller brought
him down in injury time at the end of normal time, then he stepped up to curl
home a sublime free-kick from the edge of the box in the 104th
minute.
Klinsmann, who has been under fire for
South Korea's performances in Qatar, led his team in a wild celebration at
the end. Australia finished the match with 10 men after Aiden O'Neill was red-carded
for lunging at Hwang at the end of the first period of extra time.
"We're devastated at the
moment, quite emotional for all the players and the staff," said
Australia's coach Graham Arnold. "For the first 90-odd minutes
we did very well until giving that penalty away. It's been a great
tournament for a lot of my players."
He added: "We were up 1-0, we
had chances for 2-0, 3-0, and if you don't take your chances you get
punished."
The Koreans are looking to
win the Asian Cup for the first time since 1960. They will have to do it
without Kim Min-jae in the semi-final, after the Bayern Munich
defender picked up his second booking of the tournament.
Jordan will be their opponents after
they beat Tajikistan 1-0 earlier in the day. Australia came
into the match with two days' extra rest, with South Korea also battling the
effects of a gruelling penalty-shootout win over Saudi Arabia in the last 16.
Wolverhampton Wanderers forward Hwang
started for the first time in the tournament after returning from a
hip injury. South Korea dominated the first half but it was Australia who opened
the scoring in the 42nd minute.
Hwang In-beom gave the ball away in the
Korean defence and Connor Metcalfe floated the ball to the
back post for Goodwin to volley home.
The Socceroos should have doubled their lead 10 minutes after the restart when Mitchell Duke blazed over, after goalkeeper Jo Hyeon-woo had denied Martin Boyle with a double save.
Duke spurned another opportunity when he
headed wide in the 84th minute, and the Koreans made them pay with the
equaliser from the spot deep into injury time. Son then
completed the turnaround, curling the ball inside Maty Ryan's post for the
winner.
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