The South Korean national soccer team, led by coach Jurgen Klinsmann, won 1-0 against Iraq at the New York University Stadium in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates, at 10 p.m. on the 6th (Korea time). Korea finished preparing for the Asian Cup with a victory in the final mock test. 메이저 토토사이트
Korea, which aims to win its first Group E title in 64 years, will play with Bahrain (Jan. 15), Jordan (Jan. 20) and Malaysia (Jan. 25) in Group E in turn. If Korea tops Group E, its opponent in the round of 16 teams will be No. 2 in Group D. It is one of Japan, Indonesia, Iraq and Vietnam. The second-ranked team will face the first-ranked team in Group F, which includes Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Kyrgyzstan, and Oman.
More than any other Asian team, Korea desperately wants to win the title. Korea, which is suffering from the Asian Cup jinx, has won the title in consecutive events at the first event in 1956 and the second event in 1960. However, Korea has been in second place only four times over the next 63 years, which has nothing to do with winning the title.
Although it has boasted Asia’s best performance every time, strangely, South Korea has many unfortunate scenes at the Asian Cup, leading to the term “the curse of the Asian Cup.” In the 2015 Asian Cup in Australia, the host country lost to Australia after extra time, and in the 2019 Asian Cup in Qatar, it lost to Qatar, the winner, 0-1 in the quarterfinals.
That’s why he has a different attitude toward the Asian Cup. In particular, there is a possibility that it will be the last Asian Cup for Son Heung-min, the captain of the national team, and 2024, when world class players such as Kim Min-jae, Lee Kang-in, and Hwang Hee-chan are in their prime, is the best time for Korea to recover the Asian throne.
He boasts of excellent motivation as well as strength in his performance. However, he must not let down his guard. In other words, Korea’s Asian Cup jinx was effectively stopped by Middle Eastern teams. The team lost to Saudi Arabia in the semifinals at the 2000 Lebanon Games, Iran in the quarterfinals at the 2004 China Games, and Iraq in the semifinals at the 2007 Southeast Asian Games after penalty kicks.
It is safe to say that the match against Iraq is a test stage that takes place as the first step toward overcoming the Middle East jinx. Korea was particularly weak against Middle East physical pressure and bed soccer. The goal of the match against Iraq was to present a way to overcome and attack the opponent team.
However, it was not easy. The harsh physical fight unique to the Middle East and questionable refereeing decisions overlapped. The game itself was easy. However, the Middle East’s unique play, which had to meet horribly to win the Asian Cup from the group stage, bothered Korea once again. On top of that, ambiguous refereeing decisions continued to hold back.
In particular, in the second half when South Korea was the main player, the referee’s decision continued to hold back. On this day, the referee unnecessarily overheated the game while watching the opponent’s rough play. Even the rough and deep tackle on Hwang Hee-chan in the 26th minute of the second half did not produce proper punishment.
On top of that, the Iraqi goalkeeper kicked Son Heung-min’s penetration into the match with Lee Kang-in’s kill pass in the 19th minute of the second half. However, no penalty kick was awarded. Such decision made Iraqi players feel free to provoke Korea with wild play.
In the aftermath of this decision, a variable occurred in the 40th minute of the second half. During the competition, Lee Kang-in collided with Iraq’s No. 25 and Ahmed Yehiya. Lee Kang-in, who had been warned once earlier, was sent off due to accumulated warnings. It can be said that Lee Kang-in, who had yellow earlier, responded wrong, but it was also a problem that Yehiya, who hit him in the face first, was not given a red.
After the game, the Korea Football Association (KFA) summarized the situation regarding Lee Kang-in’s exit. “First, Lee Kang-in received the first yellow card in the 24th minute of the second half. Then, he was sent off in the 41st minute of the second half because he received a yellow card during the collision and was judged to have accumulated warnings.”
However, there is no aftermath because he was sent off in a practice match. KFA stressed, “There will be no disciplinary action against Lee Kang-in’s exit. Since it is not connected to his participation in the Asian Cup, he can start from the first round.”
