South Korea opened their AFC Asian Cup 2019 campaign with a battling 1-0 win over the Philippines as they looked to reach a second straight final at the tournament.
The beaten 2015 finalists were made to work for their win by their opponents, who are making their Asian Cup debut, with Hwang Ui-jo’s goal midway through the second half finally breaking the deadlock after Philippines had done well to keep South Korea at bay.
Here’s a look at the talking points.
SOUTH KOREA MISS CUTTING EDGE
This game went largely as expected – South Korea had the majority of the possession, a whopping 82 per cent to be exact, and 16 shots to Philippines’ six. That this game ended only 1-0 should worry the Koreans.
Philippines goalkeeper Michael Falkesgaard made a couple of good stops to keep the score down, but that in itself is an indictment of South Korea’s poor finishing. And the fact that only five of those 16 shots were on target is another concerning statistic.
Too many of Korea’s attacks failed in the final third, as they tried to be too intricate with their passing in trying to find a way through the Philippines defence. Simply put, the Koreans will have to be more clinical if they are to make the final again.
The absence of a certain Tottenham forward must have had something to do with it, but this was a chance for the team to show how well they can play without Son Heung-min. On this evidence, they’ll struggle to finish teams off without the cutting edge Son provides.
South Korea made hard work of their win.
PHILIPPINES ACQUIT THEMSELVES WELL IN DEBUT
Philippines didn’t look like a team making their Asian Cup debut on Monday. Though they had only 18 per cent of the ball, that seemed like a part of a tactical plan that, for some more clinical attacking themselves, could even have worked to perfection. They had their chances, with one vicious volley drawing a good save from Korea keeper Kim Seung-gyu in the first half.
Jose Mourinho would have been proud if one of his teams played like this, even despite the result, so Sven-Goran Eriksson certainly has every right to feel the same way. If they can replicate this performance against Kyrgyzstan and China, they may even pull off a famous result during this tournament, one that would give Philippines football a real lift.
Philippines acquitted themselves well.
GROUP MAY NOT BE STROLL FOR TOP TWO
South Korea and China looked nailed on to finish as the top two in this group, with the game between them looming large as a decider for top spot. But Monday’s results show neither side can take the two supposedly weaker teams for granted.
China had to come back from a one-goal deficit to beat Kyrgyzstan, and this game was no walk in the park for Korea either, with Philippines making the Asian giants earn the points.
In fairness both Korea and China will expect to put in improved performances in the next round of fixtures, and even without that both would expect to win and go into their clash in the final game of the group on six points. But Monday should be enough evidence for both to know that they won’t have it all their own way in what was expected to be an easy group.
South Korea – and China – may struggle to impose themselves on this group.
