South Korea's Son Heung-Min scores his team's first goal against Jordan from the penalty spot. Pictures: Rajan Vadakkemuriyil
Doha, Qatar: Jordan had almost pulled off an upset against title contenders South Korea, a day after Iraq shocked hot favourites Japan at the Asian Cup.
The Hussein Ammouta’s side was close to another famous victory in Doha after Iraq’s brilliance, before Yazan Al Arab’s injury-time own goal rescued Jurgen Klinsmann’s South Korea, who secured a point with a dramatic 2-2 draw at Al Thumama Stadium yesterday.
Captain Son Heung-min scored off a penalty to put South Korea in early control but an own-goal by Park Yong-woo and a strike from Yazan Al Naimat late in the first half took Jordan into the driving seat, before Al Arab’s own goal handed South Koreans a last-gasp draw.
“It’s normal to make mistakes at the start and end of the match because you’re talking about an excellent attacking team. What was important was that we played on a par with them. We spared no effort to try and preserve the result,” Ammouta said after the match.
The draw leaves both the sides on four points with an in-form Jordan leading Group E courtesy to their 4-0 victory over Malaysia in their opening match.
The teams remained favourites to enter the Round of 16 from the group with Bahrain becoming other contenders to progress after scoring first points following a 1-0 win over Malaysia later yesterday.
For Klinsmann, the Jordan test was a good experience for his side which is aiming to regain the Asian Cup title after 64 years.
“We expected a difficult game and we got a difficult game. After the leading goal we took the tempo out of the game, which was not very good, and we lost a lot of one-on-one battles,” he said. “Those are the games that you learn a lot from.”
Jordan's Yazan Al Naimat (left) celebrates with teammates after scoring their second goal.
South Korea looked in complete control in the best part of the first half with Heung-min chipping the opener from the spot in the ninth minute after the Tottenham Hotspur star was brought down by Ehsan Haddad with VAR confirming the penalty. Son also had his goal denied in 20th minute after his shot was deflected wide.
Jordan regrouped late in the opening session and continued to put goalkeeper Jo Hyeon-woo – replacing injured Kim Seung-gyu – under pressure. Seung-gyu was ruled out for the rest of the tournament after suffering an injury to his right knee during a training session.
After efforts from Montpellier winger Mousa Al Tamari and Mahmoud Al Mardi’s was thwarted by the South Korean goalkeeper, Jordan finally got the equaliser when Yong-woo inadvertently headed Al Mardi’s corner into his own net in 37th minute.
It was Al Naimat’s goal in sixth minute of injury time before the break that put Jordan in sights of their first-ever victory over the Taeguk Warriors in their sixth meeting.
After Al Tamari’s shot was stopped by Jung Seung-hyun, Al Naimat struck from the edge of the box to the right of South Korean goalkeeper to take Jordan into lead.
As Klinsmann’s side sought the equaliser, attempts from Son and Lee Kang-in were parried by goalkeeper Yazeed Abulaila while Jordan threatened South Korean on counter attacks.
But the Jordan goalkeeper was helpless when Al Arab sent Hwang In-beom’s strike from a distance into his own net in first minute of injury time.
Both the sides will return to action on Thursday with South Korea meeting Malaysia, while Jordan will take on Bahrain in their final group matches to be played simultaneously.
