The Italian media “Tutomercatow web” reported on the 26th (Korea time), “Mancini ranked first, but he will not be happy. The national team led by Mancini has confirmed the top spot in the group, but as a result, he will face Korea in the round of 16.”
South Korea’s national team drew 3-3 against Malaysia in Group E of the 2023 Qatar Asian Cup group qualifying match held at Al-Zanub Stadium in Al-Wakra, Qatar, at 8:30 p.m. on the 25th (Korea time).
The first goal of the match was Korea. Jung Woo-young properly showed off the header of a corner kick scored by Lee Kang-in in the 21st minute of the first half, making it 1-0. However, the joy did not last long. In the 5th minute of the second half, Hwang In-beom lost the ball during the build-up process, creating a one-on-one chance crisis. Kim Min-jae and Cho Hyun-woo faced a crisis
Also, in the 13th minute of the second half, Seol Young-woo kicked the opponent’s foot and even VAR read that the cross from the left side was given PK, and Malaysia succeeded neatly, resulting in a 1-2 reversal.
Korea did not back down. In the 37th minute of the second half, Lee Kang-in scored a fantastic free-kick goal despite relatively long distances, tying the game at 2-2. The team also had a chance to turn the tables when Oh Hyun-kyu got a PK in the 45th minute of the second half, and Son Heung-min lightly succeeded to turn the game around 3-2.
However, they were given 12 minutes of extra time, and in 14 minutes of extra time, Morales, who had won Malaysian citizenship in Colombia a few months ago, scored a 3-3 equalizer in the theater and the game ended.
Saudi Arabia had a 0-0 draw with Thailand in the last group match, replacing a large number of its main players, and advanced to the round of 16 as the group’s No. 1 player with seven points. Korea will now play against Saudi Arabia in the round of 16.
Looking at the past three matches between Korea and Saudi Arabia, Korea has led the way with two wins and one draw. The first of the three matches was in a friendly match in 2015. At that time, Korea won 2-0, thanks to Saudi Arabia’s own goal and Cho Young-chul’s goal.
The next match was in a friendly in 2019. The match was played in a 0-0 draw. The last match was in a friendly in September last year. The coach was Klinsmann at the time, and his performance was not good at the time, with no wins, but Cho Kyu-sung’s goal had earned him his first Clinsmann victory, winning 1-0.
Due to good memories with Saudi Arabia, Korea is confident, but Saudi Arabia is fuming. Also, Saudi Arabia is not performing well right now. In the first group match against Oman, they scored a dramatic goal in the extra time of the second half to barely win 2-1, and it can be said that they won the match against Tajikistan because two of Tajikistan’s dismissals.
In response to Ashark al-Awasat’s question about the lack of scoring on the offensive line and how he sees it, Mancini replied, “We shot 16 times and the possession was ours, but we didn’t score and we hope it will be different in the next game.”
Mancini went on to talk about the team’s way forward in the tournament, saying, “If you want to win, you have to win whatever team you meet at any stage.”
BY: 스포츠토토