Australia edge past South Korea in extra time to win first ever Asian Cup title

fahad 16:20 31/01/2015
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  • Heartbreaker: Australia's Matthew Spiranovic celebrates his nation's triumph as South Korea miss out.

    Australia became continental champions for the first time on Saturday night after an epic 2-1 victory over South Korea in the final of the 2015 Asian Cup in Sydney.

    In a fitting end to an exciting competition, Massimo Luonga -the tournament MVP- opened the scoring just before the break with a glorious strike that looked as if it was enough for the Socceroos until Son Heung-min equalised in the 91st minute to take the game into extra time. Right at the end of the first period, Jame Troisi scored from close range and this time, there was no coming back for the Koreans.

    It was the tightest of wins for Ange Postecoglou’s men who were pushed all the way by the Taeguk Warriors. Uli Stielike’s men had the best of the first half to silence the majority of the 76,000 fans at Sydney Stadium with Son going close on two occasions and Kwak Tae-hwi heading wide from a good position.

    Yet just as the men in red were really taking control, their defence was breached for the first time in the tournament – a total of 524 minutes. Luongo, based in England’s third tier with Swindon Town, turned outside the penalty area and drove a low shot past the diving Kim Jin-hyeon.

    In the second half, Korea pushed forward with less incisiveness than previously and lacked creativity and composure in the final third. Just as it looked as if they had completely run out of ideas, Son, one of Asia’s most exciting talents, struck. A stylish lay-off from Ki Seung-yeung gave the Bayer Leverkusen man the space he needed to beat Mat Ryan.

    The Red Devils packed behind the goal, went crazy and at that moment, it looked as if the trophy was heading to Seoul for the first time in 55 years. Had defender Matthew Spiranovic received a second yellow card for a dangerous challenge on Lee Keun-ho when the scoreline was 1-1 then it could all have ended differently.

    With eleven vs eleven however, penalties were starting to loom and they seemed to offer the only way to separate these two contenders but Australia came back in extra-time and got the break they needed.

    Kim Jin-su, perhaps the tournament’s best left-back, had a chance to clear any danger on the left edge of the penalty area and then had a chance to deal with Tomi Juric. The Bundesliga defender did neither and Juric’s low cross was diverted only as far as Troisi who could not miss from close range.

    The desperation for a second equalizer was still there but this time, it did not happen. Long balls were pumped forward and Son and Ki tried their best to find a way through but Ryan, named goalkeeper of the tournament, was equal to anything that was thrown at him.

    An epic contest ended with Korea attacking but when the Iranian referee blew for full-time, Sydney and the whole of Australia started to celebrate a first ever Asian title. With a young team and coach set to be together for the next few years, there may be more to come in Asia and beyond but for now, it is party time down under.

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