South Korea will be praying lightning does not strike twice when they face Iraq in the Asian Cup semi-finals today, having limped to the last four battered and bruised.
The Koreans have failed to win Asia’s showcase tournament since 1960 – a curious anomaly for a country with a proud footballing pedigree and who famously reached the last four of the World Cup in 2002.
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But as coach Uli Stielike tries to rouse his injury-hit squad for the clash, memories of Iraq’s fairytale run to the 2007 Asian Cup title still haunt the Red Devils.
South Korea were stunned on penalties in the semi-finals by Iraq, who went on to beat Saudi Arabia in the final in Jakarta, talisman Younis Mahmoud heading the winner to bring a small measure of comfort to the war-torn country.
Stielike has been busy patching up his walking wounded and will be hoping South Korea’s golden boy Son Heung-Min can repeat his midweek heroics, when he struck twice in extra time in the 2-0 quarter-final win over Uzbekistan.
The mercurial forward, dubbed “Sonaldo” by his team-mates at German club Bayer Leverkusen, produced a superhuman display, despite not having fully recovered from a flu bug, and left the pitch on a stretcher.
Stielike’s wish that Iraq and Iran also battle each other to a standstill came true as the bitter rivals tore furiously into each other in an ill-tempered game in Canberra, Iraq prevailing 7-6 on penalties after a helter-skelter 3-3 draw.
With injuries ending the involvement of winger and midfielder Koo Ja-Cheol, and Son struggling for fitness, Stielike has been monitoring daily medical reports but insisted his players were ready to go.
Australia v UAE
Australia have turned up the heat on the UAE before Tuesday’s Asian Cup semi-final, warning the Gulf side that they would “choke them until they’re blue”.
The path to a first Asian Cup title has opened up invitingly for Australia after the UAE stunned holders Japan on penalties in the last eight, and defender Trent Sainsbury predicted that the hosts will overpower the Emirates.
“I don’t think the UAE has got the legs to go with us for 90 minutes,” Sainsbury said on Sunday.
“It’s just going to be quick ball movement, player movement. And as soon as we lose the ball, try and win it back – try and choke them until they’re blue. You have got to go for it in this game. You can’t hold back.”
Australia, beaten by Japan in the 2011 final, have had an extra day’s rest after their 2-0 win over China in the quarter-finals.
Sainsbury twisted the knife, questioning the work ethic of UAE star Omar Abdulrahman. The shaggy-haired playmaker has been one of the players of the tournament so far, instrumental in the UAE’s victory over Japan, his cheeky dinked ‘panenka’ penalty underlining his outrageous talent.
“Very tidy on the ball, not the hardest worker and I think we can exploit that,” said Sainsbury. He has just got that arrogance about him. He has got the cheekiness to chuck in a nutmeg here and there and he’s a very quick thinker on the ball. If we can get in his face and not let him get his head up, hopefully we can stop him.”