Jeddah: South Korea have advanced to the semifinals of the top Asian men's under-23 football tournament with a narrow win over Australia in Saudi Arabia. Baek Gaon and Shin Min-ha had a goal apiece to lift South Korea past Australia 2-1 in the quarterfinals of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-23 Asian Cup at King Abdullah Sports City Hall Stadium in Jeddah on Saturday (local time). Luka Jovanovic was the lone goal scorer for Australia.
According to Yonhap News Agency, in the semifinals, South Korea will take on Japan, who defeated Jordan 4-2 on penalties in the quarterfinals Friday. The South Korea-Japan showdown will kick off at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday (local time) at King Abdullah Sports City Hall Stadium, or 8:30 p.m. the same evening (South Korea time). This will be South Korea's first appearance in the semifinals of this AFC tournament since they last won the title in 2020. The young Taegeuk Warriors were eliminated in the quarterfinals in both 2022 and 2024.
In the other semifinal match Friday, Vietnam, coached by South Korean-born tactician Kim Sang-sik, will meet China or Uzbekistan. Coached by Lee Min-sung, South Korea had played poorly in all three group stage matches and had been fortunate to even make it to the knockout stage. South Korea lost to Uzbekistan 2-0 in the final Group C contest last Tuesday but snuck into the quarterfinals when Lebanon upset Iran 1-0 the same day.
Lee replaced four members from the starting lineup in the Uzbekistan match, with Baek, the team's youngest player at 19, making his first start of the tournament. South Korea dodged some bullets early on, with goalkeeper Hong Seong-min denying Jed Drew on a long-range effort in the fourth minute, and then struck first in the 21st minute. Lee Hyun-yong caught Australia napping with a long ball into the box, and Baek volleyed it home with his right foot for a 1-0 lead -- the first time South Korea had scored first in this year's tournament.
Australia appeared to have a chance to respond when they were awarded a penalty in the 38th minute, when Kang Min-jun was called for a handball, but the decision was overturned by referee Fu Ming following a video review. Australia did pull even in the 51st minute on Jovanovic's goal from a tough angle. Australia missed late opportunities to grab the lead, and Shin made them pay by heading home Kang Seong-jin's corner to seal the deal in the 89th minute.
Coach Lee thanked his players for their perseverance in some difficult situations throughout the tournament. "We wanted to attack the space behind Australia's defense and have our midfielders press hard, and it all worked out quite well," Lee said. "After our first goal, we tried really hard to protect that lead. But we ended up making too many mistakes on defense. We recovered toward the end and were able to score off a set piece. We've been improving along the way, and we will try to perform even better in the semifinals," Lee added.
Baek, who turns 20 on Friday, said he and his teammates were able to regroup quickly mentally after conceding the equalizer. "I thought we'd be able to regain the lead," he said. "We're all happy because we feel like we've made up for some poor performances from previous matches."