Australia’s coach Graham Arnold consoles Australia’s defender Aziz Behich after the Asian Cup quarter-final.
Doha, Qatar: Graham Arnold rued his side missed chances after Australia went out of the AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023 following an extra time 2-1 defeat to South Korea at Al Janoub Stadium on Friday.
Despite Korea’s dominance on the ball, it was Australia who created more chances but it wasn’t to be as Mitch Duke, Martin Boyle and Riley McGree all missed good opportunities to increase their lead before Korea’s late rally.
“Quite devastating at the moment,” said Arnold. “Quite emotional for the staff. Ninety odd minutes we did very well until we gave away the penalty.
“Korea had a couple of extra players up front. Many, many times it was six against five especially on the right hand side. We made changes to adjust and did well until the penalty.
“Korea - the way they set themselves up - they relied on counter attack. So we had to be careful of that. Overall we dealt with that very well. We were up 1-0 and we had chances to make it 2-0 or 3-0. When you don’t take those chances, you get punished.”
The Socceroos, champions in 2015, took the lead through Craig Goodwin’s volley three minutes before the end of the first half and looked like they were heading for a semi-final meeting with Jordan before Hwang Hee-chan’s stoppage time penalty.
Son Heung-min completed the turnaround in extra time with a sumptuous free-kick as Australia exited the tournament at the quarter-final stage for the second successive edition.
“I’ve got to thank the boys and staff who have been fantastic. Now we’ve got a great culture and environment. Tonight we played against a top team and we denied them a shot until the back part of the game.
“We’ve got a very young squad in terms of caps, only 12 players from the World Cup squad. It’s been a great tournament to experience for my players."
