2024 is off to a great start with the inception of the 2023 Asian Cup (AFC). The Asian Cup is held in Asia every four years, with countries all over Asia competing to win the title of champion. This year, 24 national teams from Asia, the Middle East, and Australia would participate in the quadrennial event. Hosted by Qatar, the competition would start off from the group stages, with teams slowly getting knocked out as the games proceeded to the round of 16, the quarterfinals, the semi-finals, and eventually the finals.

The South Korean National Football Team was one of the teams that participated in the event. Professional league players such as Son Heung-min, Lee Kang-in, and Kim Min-Jae were present during the games and contributed much to the success of the team.

Group Stages: 

In the group stages, South Korea would play against Bahrain, Jordan, and Malaysia. They would go off to beat Bahrain 3-1, but would draw the other games with Malaysia and Jordan. However, Korea would still acquire enough points to advance to the round of 16, taking the second place position in the group stage. 

South Korea showed impressive ball possession and shots on target in the group stages, which surpassed more than their opponent nations during all the games. 

Round of 16: South Korea vs Saudi Arabia

As South Korea reached second place in their group, they would compete against Saudi Arabia. The game started off evenly, with both sides struggling to score a goal. During the second half, Saudi Arabia scored after a defense mistake made by Korea allowed Saudi Arabia’s offense to slip past Korea’s defense to net a goal. And for the rest of the game Korea tried its best to counter attack. 

It was only during the last few minutes of extra time that the Taekgeuk warriors would finally get their chance. A ball cross from outside of the box allowed Seol Young-Woo to head-cross the ball near the goal  where Cho Gue-sung  scored with a final header. This last minute goal created shockwaves across the stadium as the game moved on to over time.

The game eventually resulted in penalties, where Korea’s goalkeeper Jo Hyeon-woo saved two crucial goals, which would allow Korea to win the game with more penalties scored. This led the South Korean National team to advance to the quarter finals against Australia. The game showed pure effort, comeback, and hard work.

Quarter Finals: South Korea vs Australia 

Australia took advantage of the game in the first half when a passing mistake caused by Hwang In-Beom allowed Australian winger Craig Goodwin to score a volley in the 42nd minute. Now in a losing position, South Korea tried to even up the game and possessed the ball most of the time, but the Australian defense was strong and held back the South Korean offensive.

Australia had many opportunities to score as well. However, they were all poorly handled and none were scored.

And once again, time was running out for South Korea as the game went into the last few minutes of extra time with no goals scored. But when Son Heung-min dashed into the box with the ball, hoping to score a goal, an Australian player tripped him inside of the box, and the referee blew for a penalty.

Hwang Hee-Chan would then score the penalty given, thus giving South Korea a clutched equalizer during the last few minutes. This would spark commotion and chaos as the game proceeded to extra time. 

In the first half of extra time, Son Heung-min scored an amazing free kick in the 104th minute that shocked the crowds. Only 20 minutes ago it was Australia that was winning, and now it seemed like the tables had turned.

The final score of the game was 2-1. South Korea would advance to the semi-finals against Jordan, while Australia would drop out of the Asian cup. 

 

Semi finals: Korea vs Jordan 

However, luck would finally run out for the Korean team as they would get knocked out of the Asian cup after Jordan surprisingly won the game when defensive mistakes made by the Korean national team allowed Jordan to net two goals before full time, with no shots on target for South Korea. This would devastate the team, as South Korea’s journey had come to an end.

The South Korean national team demonstrated extraordinary effort in the Asian Cup, never giving up until the last minute and working diligently to come back up even if they were knocked down. And although they never advanced to the finals, their perseverance would not be forgotten. 

Finals: Jordan vs. Qatar

Jordan, after beating South Korea in the semi-finals, advanced to the Finals against Qatar, the host country that had beat Iran in a chaotic match. The result of this match would be a win for Qatar after Akram Afif, Qatar’s striker, scored a hat trick of penalties, giving them a leading win with the final full time score of 3-1. 

Qatar would move on to be the Asian cup winner, making this their second consecutive victory with back-to-back wins.