The final to determine first and second rank will be played tomorrow, January 29, between Australia and Japan. The third and fourth place ranking is being determined in a game today between South Korea and Uzbekistan.
In the semifinals played Tuesday, Australian smashed Uzbekistan by an embarrassing 6-0 score. Japan beat South Korea 3-0 on penalties after the squads played to a 1-1 tie after regulation time and a 2-2 tie after 30 minutes of overtime.
With the exception of Uzbekistan, all the semifinalists played in last year’s World Cup finals in South Africa.
Iran, Iraq, Qatar and Jordan all fell in the quarterfinals. Iran’s loss quashed the hopes and dreams that Iran would win its first Asian Cup title since before the 1979 revolution. Iran has won the Cup three times in a row, in 1968, 1972 and 1976. But it has struck out since then.
Iran had come on strong in the first round of the Asian Cup finals. Of the 16 teams that made it to the finals, Iran was the only one to win all three of its group round games when it defeated Iraq 2-1, North Korea 1-0 and the UAE 3-0.
The 3-0 win over the UAE was especially impressive given that coach Afshin Ghotbi had decided to use his second stringers and to rest the first string since Iran was already guaranteed to advance to the quarterfinals—the only team to advance after just two games.
In the UAE game, forward Arash Afshin gave Iran the lead in the 70th minute, only to be sent off with a second infraction five minutes later. That meant Afshin was not allowed to play in the quarterfinals. Midfielder Mo-hammad Nuri scored the second goal against the UAE in the 83rd minute. The final goal game in injury time when UAE defender Walid Abbas netted an own goal—his second of the tournament!
A UAE defender was sent off the field so that both teams played the last 11 minutes of regulation time with 10 men.
That set up the quarterfinal game with South Korea. This was the fifth time Iran met the South Koreans in the Asian Cup quarterfinals. Before this year, the outcome had been equal—two wins for Iran and two for South Korea.
The game was similar to the last Asian Cup matchup in 2007. Neither team could score in regulation time. But four years ago, the winner was determined on penalty kicks.
Coach Ghotbi was familiar with the South Korean team, having spent five years on the coaching staff there. But that insider knowledge didn’t do the trick.
Korean coach Cho Kwang-rae complained before the match that he feared Iran would play a dirty game and try to slow things up with fouls. In the end, the Iranians drew two yellow cards for violations—but the South Koreans drew three yellow cards.
In Iran’s quarterfinal match, South Korea came out attacking from the start and Iran held back, seemingly trying to feel its way. It wasn’t until well into the second half that Iran went over to the offensive. In the second overtime period, trailing 1-0, Iran tried desperately to find an opening, but the South Koreans presented a wall of defense and held on to win. Andranik Teymourian got one shot on goal while Iran was trying to claw its way back, but it went straight into the Korean goalie’s hands.
The closest thing to a goal in regulation time would have been an own goal by South Korean Ji Dong-won. He attempted to clear a cross on a free kick from Mohammad-Reza Khalat-bari, but just deflected it toward Korea’s goal. Goalkeeper Jung Sung-ryong was alert and dived to his left to palm the ball away.
The winning goal was finally scored by second-half substitute Yoon Bit-garam with a left foot shot.
Of the South Korea game, coach Ghotbi said, “In the first half, we didn’t play like we can, that maybe had to do with the Koreans’ quality and our own tension. I could have changed seven or eight players in the first half as they really didn’t play as well as they can. But as the game wore on, we got better. Unfortunately, we lost a goal at the worst moment. But it was a fantastic finish.”
He said, “We tried very hard to get the players to relax and play football, but the Koreans did very well in the midfield and closing down space. At half-time, we talked about it and I think in the second half we improved, but not as [much as] we would have liked. Again, it comes down to the importance of winning—and I think it got to the players.”
Ghotbi said that his achievement in two years of coaching the team was to get the players to play as a team. “This is something that was never seen in Iranian football, which previously always consisted of individuals shining. This team shined in this tournament. But sometimes the best teams don’t win the tournament.”
