Saudi Arabia players during a training session.
Doha, Qatar: Three-time winners Saudi Arabia and twice champions South Korea are ready for the AFC Asian Cup showdown, both hoping for an improved show as they look to seal a place in the quarter-finals at Education City Stadium tonight.
The two sides may not have enjoyed ideal starts to the Asian Cup, the heavyweight clash of is expected to bring the best out of the title contenders led by the prominent coaches.
Roberto Mancini’s Saudi Arabia topped their group but they struggled to beat Oman in their opening match before being held by Thailand to a goalless draw.
The Green Falcons have never lost to South Korea in the Asian Cup in their previous four fixtures but Taeguk Warriors were the 1-0 winners when the two sides last met in a friendly match in England last September.
It was the first time when South Korea coach Jurgen Klinsmann came head-to-head with Mancini.
South Korea players in action during a training session.
Mancini, who guided Italy to Euro 2020 title, said South Korea is a strong side in all aspects and not just in captain Son Heung-min-led attack, urging his ranks to “play as a team” in the last 16 blockbuster.
“South Korea is a very good team, even if they conceded six goals in the group stage it doesn’t change their strength because they have very good players,” he said yesterday.
“They score a lot of goals. If they concede then maybe we can know that if we attack we have a chance to score. Our preparation is the same as for other games, there is no change. We play one of the best teams in the tournament. Not just attackers, the whole team is good. They have speed and quality with players in Europe.
“They have good quality, they have big experience. For us it will be very important to play as a team. I think we have improved a lot in the last months and we are positive,” he added.
Klinsmann’s side – seeking to end 64-year trophy drought – qualified as a second-placed side from their group after being held by Jordan and 130th-ranked Malaysia, a performance that drew fierce criticism back home.
But Klinsmann, a World Cup winner as a player, was optimistic about his team’s chances against Saudi Arabia.
“We have to believe that we can beat Saudi Arabia, but it will be a lot of hard work, it will be nail biter and it might go to a penalty shootout. Anything can happen in football, you cannot predict what will be next,” said the German legend.
“All we know is we have trained hard over the last few weeks and we have a goal in mind. We are focused. We know we made a couple of mistakes but we have corrected them and hopefully you are going to see a really exciting game.
Roberto Mancini’s Saudi Arabia topped their group to book their Round of 16 meeting against South Korea.
“In all honesty I don’t fear anybody. No fear, but a lot of respect. A lot of respect for every opponent we play. Before if it was Jordan, if it was Bahrain, if it was Malaysia we respect them all, this is important.”
The 59-year-old admitted it would be a different challenge for his side against Mancini’s men than their win in friendly four months ago.
“You can see now his handwriting on the team after 10 games and they’re a very good team, but we’re prepared,” Klinsmann said of Mancini, who took over as Saudi Arabia coach in August.
“Roberto is doing a fantastic job. It’s a step-by-step process that he has to go through with his team. It’s a new adventure for him, it’s a new adventure for me being in Korea and coaching this fantastic team.”
Saudi Arabia are expected to receive an overwhelming crowd support at the 44000-seater venue with the match scheduled to begin at 7pm.
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Saudi Arabia and South Korea are all set for a blockbuster AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023 Round of 16 clash today.
Saudi Arabia topped Group E while South Korea advanced as the Group E runners-up.
Unbeaten Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia are undefeated against South Korea from their four previous meetings at the AFC Asian Cup (W1 D3) with their most recent encounter ending in a 1-1 draw in the 2007 group stage. Saudi Arabia have won both of their two previous knockout games against South Korea at the tournament (won 1988 final on penalties, won 2000 semi-final).
Tough stat
Saudi Arabia have lost their last two knockout games at the AFC Asian Cup, each by a 1-0 score - the only time they’ve lost back-to-back knockout games at the tournament.
Stellar record
South Korea have won their first knockout game at each of the last four editions of the AFC Asian Cup, conceding only a single goal across that term; in fact, the last time they lost their first knockout game of the tournament was in a 4-3 loss to Iran in the 2004 quarter-finals.
Precision
South Korea (88.2%) and Saudi Arabia (88.1%) had the highest pass accuracies of any teams during the group stage of Qatar 2023 while the East Asian side’s 2,099 passes were also more than any other team in the competition.
Creative kings
No players have created more scoring chances at Qatar 2023 than South Korea duo Lee Kang-In (9) and Lee Jae-Sung (8).
