Korea edged Australia 2-1 to book their AFC U23 Asian Cup semi-final spot at the King Abdullah Sports City Hall Stadium in Saudi Arabia last night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The hard-fought quarter-final victory means Korea make a return to the last four stage after missing out in the previous two editions, with defending champions Japan awaiting them in Tuesday\u2019s semi-final.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Korea had to be alert as early as the fourth minute with keeper Hong Seong-min having to produce a low save to deny Jed Drew\u2019s long-range effort before surging upfield to\u00a0 return the favour a minute later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Baek Ga-on sent a deep pass to Jang Seok-hwan, who beat his marker and attempted to catch the onrushing Steven Hall off his line but his curling shot sailed over the bar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 2020 champions continued to dictate the game with Kang Seong-jin and Kang Min-jun threatening before leaving the Australians stunned in the 21st minute with a brilliantly taken finish by Baek.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Australia were caught napping by Lee Hyun-Yong\u2019s long ball into the box, which fell perfectly for Suwon defender Baek to finish with a fine volley into the back of the net.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Australia looked to respond and thought they had earned a penalty in the 38th minute when Kang Min-jun was flagged for a handball but the decision was overturned following a VAR review.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The half-time break, however, seemed to work wonders for Australia as they showed more attacking intent, with Korea being forced to defend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The aggressive approach paid off in the 51st minute with Drew initiating the move on the right flank, with the midfielder setting up Luka Jovanovic who rounded Hong Seong-min and buried the ball in the net. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Australia kept pressing in the closing stages with Shin Min-ha clearing a dangerous ball inside the six-yard-box in the 79th minute, with Aydan Hammond then put clear on goal in the 86th but drilled his effort straight at Hong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The missed opportunities came back to haunt Australia as Shin Min-ha rose highest to power home Kang Seong-jin’s corner to seal the win in the 89th minute as Korea Republic stayed on course for a second title.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Head coach Lee Min-sung was all smiles after the victory. \u201cI\u2019m extremely grateful to all the players for the way they stayed strong and pushed through a very difficult match,\u201d said Lee. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe focused on exploiting the space behind Australia and applying strong pressure in midfield and those plans worked really well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAfter conceding, there was a brief moment when the players looked unsettled but they quickly regrouped, corrected the issues and showed great resilience to turn the game around. I\u2019m truly proud of the team.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe players showed a strong will to score and then protect the lead but at times, we dropped too deep and a few defensive mistakes happened, which was disappointing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMoments like this help us grow as a team. As we look ahead to the semi-final, we\u2019ll work hard to deliver an even better performance.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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