Seemingly destined to exit the tournament at the earliest stage since 1984, the “Asian Tigers” sent the match against Roberto Mancini’s Saudis into extra time at the last possible moment.
The team then bested their opponents in a penalty shootout. Korea advance deeper into the competition despite having drawn their last three matches.
After a dull first half during which none of the three German club players (all in Klinsmann’s starting XI again) could muster up much of anything, the Koreans immediately fell behind after the restart when Abdullah Hadi Radif scored the 1-0 shortly after kickoff. The “Green Falcons” rode the momentum and were unlucky not to double their advantage whilst dominating for much of the second 45. Very little urgency was on display from the Koreans until approximately four minutes from the end of normal time.
A hailstorm of chances – including a pair of excellent opportunities from former Leipzig attacker Hwang Hee-Chan – continued to produce nothing. Nine minutes of injury time elapsed until Cho (who had missed a pair of chances himself) notched the 1-1. Cho and former Bundesliga star Heung-Min Son also produced scoring opportunities in the additional 30 minutes of added time. The enervated Saudis appeared content to play for the shootout whilst Klinsmann’s crew went for the win.
Mancini’s side were made to pay for their passivity when Cho, Son, Hwang, and Young-Gwon Kim all converted their tries from the penalty spot after 120 minutes elapsed. The Saudi’s missed their final two tries, giving the Taeguks a 4-2 PSO win. None of the Bundesliga professionals remained on the pitch for the full affair. Stuttgart’s Jeong got the hook in the 54th. Mainz’s Lee exited proceedings ten minutes later. Klinsmann opted to pull Bayern’s Kim just shortly before the shootout commenced.
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