South Korea Reached the Finals of the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil
18-06-2013
Korea Republic reached the finals of the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil despite a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Iran in their final group match in Ulsan.The Taeguk Warriors could not round off their campaign on a high note, after conceding the 60th minute winner to Reza Ghoochannejhad. But they managed to secure second place on goal difference, as Uzbekistan’s 5-1 win over Qatar on Tuesday was not enough to earn them an automatic qualifying spot.
In his last match as Korea Republic coach, Choi Kang-Hee fielded a very attack-minded 4-4-2 formation with forwards Kim Shin-Wook and Lee Dong-Gook flanked by Ji Dong-Won and Son Heung-Min.Cheered on by a vociferous home crowd at Munsu Football Stadium, the hosts took control in midfield from the outset and began to surge forward. Lee tested Rahman Ahmadi with an effort from the edge of the area, before Kim Chi-Woo curled a free-kick just over the crossbar.Son saw his point-blank volley bounce off the ground and over the bar on 21 minutes, and five minutes later, the Leverkusen winger failed to connect another Kim free-kick with a header from close range.
However, the best chance for the hosts came on the stroke of half-time when Lee Myoung-Ju received a neat through pass from Son to dribble into the area. But with only Ahmadi to beat, Lee failed to round the goalkeeper and missed the time to shoot under pressure from a defender.With the Uzbeks trailing 1-0 at the half-time in Tashkent, it looked as though a goalless draw would suffice for both sides but it was the Iranians that opened the deadlock against the run of play.
After centre-back Kim Young-Gwon failed to clear a long pass from Khosro Heydari on the right, Ghoochannejhad stole the ball and broke into the edge of the box to curl a low shot past Jung Sung-Ryong.Kim then had a glorious opportunity to restore parity on 76 minutes, but Ahmadi did well to parry the ball away from close range and block another effort from Jang Hyun-Soo.Lee Keun-Ho and Kim Bo-Kyung came off the bench as Choi made changes on both flanks midway through the second half, but it was too little, too late for the hosts to get back into the game.
2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil Qualifiers
Asian Zone, Group A
Korea Republic 0-1 Iran
18 June 2013, Munsu Football Stadium, Ulsan
Scorer: Ghoochannejhad 60’ Cautions: Timotian 55’, Safi 90’Korea Republic (4-4-2) Jung Sung-Ryong; Kim Chang-Soo, Kim Ki-Hee, Kim Young-Gwon, Kim Chi-Woo; Ji Dong-Won (Lee Keun-Ho 66’), Lee Myoung-Ju, Jang Hyun-Soo, Son Heung-Min (Kim Bo-Kyung 74’); Kim Shin-Wook, Lee Dong-Gook (c) / Coach: Choi Kang-Hee
Iran (4-4-1-1) Ahmadi; Heydari (Rezaei 70’), Montazeri, Sadeghi, Beikzadeh; Hosseini, Timotian, Nekounam (c), Shojaei (Safi 83’); Jabari; Ghoochannejhad (Hatami 90’+2) / Coach: Carlos Queiroz
Source & pics: KFA site.
One of the qualifying round games: S.KOrea vs Qatar.
Update by https://www.facebook.com/F1KoreanFans - All sports news in KOrea.
