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South Korea coach Jürgen Klinsmann during the game against Saudi Arabia: His team looked like sure losers until deep into stoppage time
Photo: Aijaz Rahi / AP
Former national coach Jürgen Klinsmann reached the quarter-finals with South Korea at the Asian Cup after a nerve-racking football game. In the round of 16 duel between 2022 World Cup participants, the South Koreans won 4-2 (1-1, 1-1, 0-0) on penalties against Saudi Arabia in Al-Rajjan on Tuesday.
Gue-sung Cho saved South Korea into extra time with his goal in the ninth minute of stoppage time. Abdullah Radif (46th) scored to give Saudi Arabia the lead in the Education City Stadium. South Korea will face Australia in the next round on Friday. At midday, Uzbekistan reached the next round with a 2-1 win against Thailand.
The 59-year-old Klinsmann took over the South Korean team in March 2023 and his contract runs until after the 2026 World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico. Against Saudi Arabia, as he often did in the tournament, he relied on Woo-yeong Jeong from VfB Stuttgart, Min-jae Kim from FC Bayern Munich and Jae-sung Lee from FSV Mainz 05. The trio is still missing from the Bundesliga clubs due to reaching the quarter-finals.
cev/dpa