Substitute James Troisi scored halfway through extra time to give tournament hosts Australia their maiden Asian Cup title with a 2-1 victory over South Korea in a pulsating final yesterday.
South Korea’s Son Heung-min scored in stoppage time at the end of 90 minutes to send the match into the extra half hour, canceling out Massimo Luongo’s strike on the stroke of halftime.
It was just before another break — with 105 minutes on the clock — that Troisi put the ball into the net from close range to make Australia champions of Asia nine years after they switched from the Oceania confederation.
Photo: EPA
Former World Cup semi-finalists South Korea had ridden their mean defense to a first Asian Cup final since 1988, but despite being the better side for much of the match came up short in their bid for a first title in 55 years.
Luongo’s goal was the first they had conceded in the tournament and for most of the second half it looked the goal-shyness that characterized the start of their campaign had returned to haunt them.
However, with regulation time running out substitute Han Kook-young dispossessed Trent Sainsbury on the edge of the box and Lee Jeong-hyeop fed the ball to Son who stroked it into the net while challenged by two defenders.
Australia had come out to attack as coach Ange Postecoglou had promised, but in a frenetic start to the match, South Korea showed they had threats up front as well.
Son had his sights set just too high in the second and 37th minutes, and Luongo was on hand to block his shot after Cha Du-ri’s charge down the right wing in the 38th.
Seven minutes later Luongo was down the other end to take Sainsbury’s through ball with a deft touch and lash it into the back of the net from 25m.
The lead was barely deserved, but that did not stop the green-and-gold clad majority of the sellout crowd of 76,385 at Stadium Australia celebrating in a frenzy.
South Korea pressed forward in search of an equalizer, but were grateful for goalkeeper Kim Jin-hyeon after a fine save of a Mathew Leckie shot on the hour mark, as they had been in the first half when he stopped a Tim Cahill shot.
After Son’s goal had provided a dramatic conclusion to normal time and sent the match into the extra half hour, Kim was again on hand to intercept a Luongo cross with Socceroos lining up to put it into the net.
Five minutes later, though, Tomi Juric nutmegged Kim Jin-su on the edge of the box and Kim was only able to push the striker’s cross into the path of Troisi, who smashed the ball into the open goal.
Postecoglou said after the game that the Socceroos were ready to “take on the world.”
“That’s the biggest thing for me, just to look around this stadium and the whole country will be off their couches and won’t be able to sleep tonight,” Postecoglou said.
“It’s a great game. I’m biased, but I think it’s the greatest game in the world. Hopefully from now on us Aussies can take on the world with it because I have a real belief in these guys,” he said.
Postecoglou, who said this week that teams from the region should concentrate on winning the World Cup, will now set his sights on qualifying for the next edition in 2018.
“It was a super effort from everyone, the players the staff, the whole organization. I couldn’t be happier,” he said, as his jubilant players celebrated nearby. “It was a different kind of game tonight. It was tough, it was a final, you got to grind it out and no one knows better than me that it never goes to script. There were twists and the courage the players showed tonight was enormous.”
“My only concern because we conceded so late the boys they had heartbreak and couldn’t pick themselves up, but I knew we’d finish stronger,” he said. “We pride ourselves on being very fit and working hard. It was just a matter of taking our chance and we did and I’m super proud of them.”
Additional reporting by AFP
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