Harimau maul South Korea
Korea coach Kim Hag Bum’s move to start the match without World Cup goalkeeper Jo Hyeon-woo and star Tottenham Hotspur striker Son Heung-min backfired against Malaysia in the Asian Games yesterday.
The Koreans suffered a shock 2-1 defeat, which was their first loss to Malaysia since the 1974 Asian Games.
With last night’s success, Malaysia, who beat Kyrgyzstan 31 on Wednesday, have qualified for the last 16.
South Korea’s second choice goalkeeper Song Bum-keun gifted Malaysia’s first goal as early as the fifth minutem which was scored by Johor Darul Ta’zim forward Safawi Rasid.
Bum-keun failed to catch the ball cleanly as he collided with one of his teammates and an alert Safawi latched onto the loose ball and slotted it into an empty net for an early lead.
The South Koreans, who are the defending champions, did not give up as they tried to search for an equaliser by launching waves of attacks.
Hwang Ui Jo had an opportunity to level the score in the 18th minute after a defence splitting pass from Hwang Hee Chan, but his right footed strike went wide with goalkeeper Haziq Nazli well beaten.
The Koreans continued to pile on the pressure on Malaysia’s goal and a fluid one-two move between Hee Chan and Lee Siyoung in the 33rd minute was blocked by Haziq who put up a solid performance in goal.
In the 46th minute, Harimau Malaya shocked the Taeguk Warriors once again as Safawi picked up a pass in the Koreans half and unleashed a shot just outside the box that a fully stretched Bumkeun failed to save as Malaysia went 2-0 up just before the break.
In the second half, Hag Bum made two changes, one of which was to bring on Spurs striker Heung-min to add more bite to their attack as the Koreans tried to get back into the match.
In the 87th minute, the Koreans finally breached the Malaysian defence when Ui Jo managed to score.