China News Service, February 7. In the first semi-final of the Asian Cup in Qatar that ended in the early morning of the 7th, Beijing time, the Jordan team, which entered the semi-finals of the Asian Cup for the first time, defeated the favorite South Korea 2:0 and took the lead in reaching the final. .
Image source: Asian Cup official social media
At this point, the Japanese team and the South Korean team, which have the highest team value in Asia, have both been eliminated and missed the finals.
The exhaustion of two consecutive overtime games still affected the Korean team's state to some extent. In this game, their few chances came in the first half. One time was when Lee Jae-sung's header from outside the penalty area hit the goalpost, and the other time was when the unmarked Huang In-beom shot away from the penalty spot.
Shortly after the start of the second half, the Jordan team waited for a mistake from the South Korean team. In the 53rd minute, Park Yong-woo's return pass was intercepted, and Naimat received an assist from Tamari and scored with a shot.
The lagging South Korean team was eager to equalize the score, but too many mistakes affected their advancement rhythm. In the 66th minute, Tamari stole the ball in the backcourt and scored a one-stop goal, extending the Jordan team's lead. Although the Korean team has many famous players in Europe, they were unable to change the score in subsequent games and were eventually eliminated.
Image source: Asian Cup official social media
Statistics show that the South Korean team had an advantage in possession of the ball throughout the game, but the number of shots they took was significantly lower than their opponents, and none of their shots hit the goal frame. Instead, Jordan took advantage of the limited space to create more opportunities, especially in the second half.
Entering the Asian Cup final for the first time in team history, the Jordan team showed its dark horse qualities. There are no well-known stars in their team, and their world ranking is lower than that of the national football team - the current FIFA world rankings were released at the end of last year, with the national football team ranked 79th, while the Jordanian team ranked 87th.
It's such an unknown team that stayed until the end. There is an element of luck in this. For example, they advanced through the group stage. In the 1/8 finals, they beat the buzzer with one more player on the court. Their opponent in the quarter finals was the weaker Tajikistan team in the quarterfinals. …
FIFA ranking
But to seize luck, you also have to rely on strength, just like the content of the game presented by the Jordan team when facing the South Korean team. This semi-final is not the first meeting between the two sides in this cup. The two teams in Group E had a 2:2 draw in the group stage.
If one game alone is more accidental, then the results of these two confrontations show that the Jordanian team has its own set of effective tactics when dealing with the top Korean team in Asia.
According to the schedule, another semifinal will be held tonight between Iran and the host Qatar. The Jordanian team, which has one more day to rest, will wait for the winner of this game, and they have a chance to become the final winner. (over)