South Korea held by Jordan

DOHA - Jordan were denied a first ever victory over South Korea when a 91stminute own goal from Yazan Al-Arab gifted their opponents a 2-2 draw in their second Asian Cup Group E game at Al Thumama Stadium yesterday.

The result leaves both teams on four points from two games and opens up the group after Bahrain moved up to three points with a late winner in a 1-0 victory over Malaysia in the other group encounter.

South Korea had taken the lead with a penalty from Son Heung-min, but an own goal from Park Yong-Woo and a longrange strike from Yazan Al-Naimat made it 2-1 to Jordan before the own goal denied the Arab nation a landmark win.

“Overall 2-2 is a fair result and gives both teams a chance to win the group,” South Korea coach Juergen Klinsmann told reporters.

“We took the tempo out of the game after going 1-0 up and lost battles on the field to Jordan, which made it difficult. But those are the games you learn a lot from. Going into the next round is a high priority, but it was a very intense game.”

Son was brought down in the box by Ihsan Haddad in the fourth minute. The Tottenham Hotspur forward stepped up to take the penalty but had to wait five minutes as the referee checked the replay and conferred with the VAR team.

He then kept his cool amid a crescendo of boos from Jordanian fans to score with a chipped effort down the middle.

South Korea had their first choice goalkeeper Kim Seung-gyu ruled out of the rest of the tournament with a knee injury and his replacement Jo Hyeon-Woo was tested several times with Jordan’s players clearly instructed to shoot from range.

But Jo could do nothing in the 37th minute when Park headed the ball into his own net as he attempted to prevent centre back Al-Arab from scoring for Jordan.

Jordan continued to pile on the pressure and just before halftime Al-Naimat volleyed into the bottom corner to silence the South Korean fans.