Iraq stunned South Korea 4-3 on penalties to win their way into the Asian Cup final for the first time after a match of excruciating tension yesterday.
Tournament surprises Iraq will play Saudi Arabia -- who defeated defending champions Japan -- in Sunday's decider in Jakarta.
The epic match went to a shootout after both sides failed to score in over two hours of sustained, committed soccer.
PHOTO: AFP
It is Iraq's first-ever Asian Cup final after getting as far as the 1976 semi-final against Kuwait, which went to extra time, while South Korea were chasing their third title since 1960.
In emotional scenes at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium, Iraqi players rushed to their supporters to grab national flags as other players wept with joy when realization hit that they had won.
The decisive breakthrough came in the shoot-out when goalkeeper Noor Sabri, the man-of-the-match, pushed Yeom Ki-hun's attempt past the post and then Kim Jung-woo's shot hit the post and bounced away.
PHOTO: AFP
Iraq are now just one match away from completing their greatest soccer achievement after they reached the semi-final of the 2004 Athens Olympics and the final of last year's Asian Games in Doha.
It was desolation for the South Koreans, who were backing up after their win on penalties over Iran in their quarter-final last Sunday.
Iraq had the better scoring chance in an uninspiring first 45 minutes with midfielder Karrar Jassim just failing to get his head on to a cross from Haidar Abdul Amer after 28 minutes.
Skipper Younis Mahmoud had two chances, hitting the side-netting in the 16th minute and just sending his shot wide of the diving Lee Woon-jae late in the half.
The South Koreans had several chances with goalkeeper Noor Sabri having little trouble defusing Yeom Ki-hun's tame downward header and punching clear a Lee Chun-soo free kick a few minutes before half-time.
But South Korea ramped up the pressure in the second half with winger Choi Sung-kuk's pass blocked by Ali Hussein Rehema with two team-mates in a scoring position.
Noor punched away another attack away to safety as the South Koreans kept up the pressure on Iraq's goal.
Yeom Ki-hun's left-foot free kick almost caught out the Iraqi goalkeeper minutes later but he scrambled it clear as the South Koreans mounted more pressure.
Again the Koreans pressed and defender Kim Jin-kyu's header off a corner just missed the target.
Lee Chun-soo had a glorious chance but sent his first-time volley sailing past the post with Noor beaten.
Choi was stretchered off with five minutes of normal time left to make way for Middlesbrough striker Lee Dong-guk.
The South Koreans peppered the Iraqi goal in the final minutes of regulation time but the game went into 30 minutes' extra-time.
Hawar Mohammed had a great chance to put Iraq ahead when Haidar's cross had the Korean defense in a dither and Hawar's shot hit the inside of the post and rolled along the goal-line for Kim Jin-kyu to hack it away.
But it ended in a deadlock that took it to penalties.
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
The Minnesota Timberwolves, with so many promising performances spoiled by late mistakes fresh in their memory bank, sure timed this strong finish well. Jaden McDaniels scored a career playoff-high 30 points and spearheaded Minnesota’s stifling defense on an ailing Luka Doncic, and the Timberwolves beat the Los Angeles Lakers 116-104 to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference first-round series in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Friday night. “Jaden never looks tired. He looks like he could play 48 minutes,” said teammate Anthony Edwards, who had 29 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. Julius Randle added 22 points for the Wolves, who outscored
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
RSS