South Korea steps up gear against China
South Korea maintained its perfect start at the 2019 Asian Cup with its best performance yet: a 2-0 win over China in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday.
On a warm evening in the capital of the United Arab Emirates, a goal in each half ensured that the Taegeuk Warriors took top spot in Group C above China. Coach Paulo Bento will have to wait and see before learning the opponent in the round of 16.
There was something of a surprise when Son Heung-min’s name was sighted in the starting team sheet in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday. The star missed the wins over Philippines and Kyrgyzstan, and arrived from London only on Monday, a seven hour flight from England and then a two hour drive from Abu Dhabi. That was the day after playing a tough game against Manchester United.
With both Korea and China through the round of 16 after winning their first two games, it was expected that Son would sit on the bench and perhaps come on for a run in the final 20 minutes. Then he would be fit and fresh for the knockout stage when the fun really begins.
Anyway, he didn’t take long to make his mark. After just 14 minutes, he was skipping through a crowded penalty area and was fouled by Shi Ke. Hwang Ui-jo stepped up to roll the penalty kick just past the outstretched arms of Yan Junling in the Chinese goal.
Son continued to be busy, drawing saves from Yan while Korea continued to pin the Chinese team back and had shots that hit the post and were also well-saved. At half-time, China was lucky just to be one goal behind.
The second did come just a few minutes into the second half and Son was involved again. He whipped in a cross for central defender Kim Min-jae, who had never scored for the national team before his header against Kyrgyzstan five days earlier to record his second.
That was that and it will be encouraging that Korea has yet to concede a single goal in the tournament even if the opposition has not been that strong and China was missing its best attacker, Wu Lei, through injury.
Now it is time for Son to have a proper rest and the team to try and get back top-class midfielders Ki Sung-yueng and Lee Jae-sung from injury.
A fully fit Korean team with Son firing and the defense looking solid can go all the way in the tournament and bring the trophy back to Seoul for the first time since 1960. There is still a long way to go before the final in Abu Dhabi on Feb. 1 but after a smooth group stage, Korea has every reason to be feeling confident in the two weeks or so coming up.