The current situation has been painfully reaffirmed Korea is no longer an Asian tiger.
South Korea coach Jurgen Klinsmann was disappointed after being defeated 0-2 by Jordan and Korea in the semifinals of the 2023 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Qatar Asian Cup held at the Al-Rayyan Ahmed bin Ali Stadium in Qatar on the 6th (local time) and failing to advance to the finals. He is comforting Son Heung-min, who is in trouble.
What Korean soccer, which had ambitiously attempted to win the championship, received in Qatar was not a trophy but the bitter reality that it was ‘no longer the Tigers of Asia.’
The national soccer team, led by coach Jurgen Klinsmann, lost 0-2 in the semifinals of the 2023 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup against Jordan held at the Ahmed Bin Ali Stadium in Al Rayyan, Qatar on the 7th (Korean time).
The Taegeuk Warriors, who attempted to win the Asian Cup for the first time in 64 years since 1960, were blocked by Jordan, who was considered one step below them, and their advance to the finals was canceled. On this day, Korea suffered the humiliation of not recording a single effective shot for 90 minutes.
Korea failed to meet expectations throughout the tournament, including the game against Jordan where it was completely defeated.
In the group stage, where they were confident of passing the entire team, they lost their pride by only getting 1 win, 2 draws, and 2nd place in the group. They ended up winning against Saudi Arabia in the round of 16, which went to a penalty shootout, and the match against Australia in the quarterfinals, both of which went into overtime. If you only calculate the record within 90 minutes, it is 1 win, 4 draws, and 1 loss.
Although he scored 11 goals, only 4 of them were field goals. To put it another way, the fact that there were many dramatic victories also means that there was never a single game throughout the tournament where the team overpowered their opponents enough to feel at ease.
The frustrating performance and results once again confirmed that Korean soccer is not a special power even in Asia.
In this tournament, teams with their own unique personalities and characteristics advanced, including Jordan, who reached the finals for the first time in history, as well as Iraq, Tajikistan, Indonesia, and Bahrain.
While the level of its Asian counterparts has improved, Korea, which prided itself on being the strongest in Asia, has not performed any better than before.
Although it was a flashy team with the highest name value of all time, it lacked substance and even gave the opponent confidence that “Korea is a worthy opponent.”
Jordan’s coach Amut Jordan, who completely defeated Korea, said, “I wasn’t afraid of Korea. He expressed his triumphant feelings, saying, “I was confident that I could score a goal against Korea, which had conceded 8 goals in the last 5 games.” In other words, it means, “I am not afraid of Korea anymore.” It hurts my pride, but that was actually the result that day.
Malaysian coach Kim Pang-gon, who was the one who recorded a 3-3 draw with Korea in the group stage and brought Korea down to second place in the group, also said in an interview with News 1 before the opening of the tournament, “It can bother Korea and hurt its pride. “I am confident that the game will not go as Korea wants,” he said. And Coach Kim actually played on equal footing with Korea, accurately targeting Korea’s weaknesses.
Nowadays, it is difficult to say that Korean soccer has a clear advantage in Asia. Neither the pursuers are afraid of Korea. Looking back at the games of this tournament, there were quite a few scenes where we were afraid of our opponents. 토토
