Son burns Vietnam as Koreans reach Asian football final
C IBINONG, Indone s i a : Tottenham Hotspur’s Son Heungmin played a captain’s role as South Korea beat plucky Vietnam 3-1 to reach the Asian Games final on Wednesday.
The World Cup star, who is missing the start of the Premier League season to represent his country in Indonesia, is now just 90 minutes away from a gold medal that would spare him a careerthreatening spell of military service.
A double from Lee Seung-woo and another goal from freescoring striker Hwang Ui-jo sent the Koreans through to the final, where they will face either Japan or the United Arab Emirates at the weekend.
Le e sma she d four - t ime champions South Korea in front af ter just seven minutes in Cibinong, near Jakarta, following some nifty footwork from Hwang Hee- chan.
Son’s clever flick provided the assist for Hwang Ui-jo to extend their advantage just before the half-hour mark.
Da r t i n g i n b ehi nd the Vietnamese defence, Hwang – hattrick hero of Korea’s 4- 3 quarterfinal win over Uzbekistan earlier this week – clinically hooked in his ninth goal of tournament.
Lee stabbed in his second, and his team’s third, 10 minutes after the interval before Vietnam pulled one back through a dipping free kick from Tran Minh Vuong with 20 minutes left.
Japan were due to play the Emirates in the second semi-final later on Wednesday. — AFP