Doha (AFP) – Young player Lee Kang-in, a French player for Paris Saint-Germain, led the South Korean national team to earn the first three points by defeating its Bahraini counterpart 3-1, on Monday at Jassim bin Hamad Stadium in the Qatari capital, Doha, with the opening of the group competitions. Fifth in the Asian Football Cup.
Published on: 01/15/2024 – 14:47 Last updated: 01/15/2024 – 15:06
3 minutes
Hwang In-beom (38), Lee, who joined Saint-Germain from Mallorca in Spain last summer, scored (56 and 68), and Abdullah Al-Hashash (51) scored for the South Korean national team.
The second match in the group will be held later between Jordan and Malaysia.
South Korea, led by its German coach Jurgen Klinsmann, is seeking to end a 64-year drought since the last time it was crowned champion of the continent. It relies on a group of stars playing in the five major European leagues, led by English Tottenham striker Heung-Min Son and German Bayern Munich defender Kim Min-jae.
Striker Hwang Hee-chan, who scored ten goals in the English Premier League with Wolverhampton this season, was absent from Klinsmann’s squad due to a hip injury.
The Bahraini national team started its first attempt through Mohammed Marhoon with a header that went over the crossbar, after a pass from Kamil Al-Aswad (6).
The South Korean team had the first opportunity through a header from Hwang-in-beom that went wide of the goal (21).
Bahrain had a real opportunity to open the scoring after a quick pass from Abdullah Al-Hashash to Ali Madan, and the latter was alone in the goal and shot the ball over the crossbar (31).
The Korean team put pressure on Bahrain’s goal, taking advantage of poor defensive coverage from the right side, and from a cross ball and the lack of coverage inside the penalty area. The scoring was opened by Serbian Red Star striker Hwang In-beom, who was unmarked, putting the ball to the left of goalkeeper Ibrahim Lutfallah (38).
The Bahraini team started the second half strongly in an attempt to equalize, and put pressure on the Korean goal through the runs of Ali Madan and Abdullah Al-Hashash, and the attempts of Kamil Al-Aswad and Mohammed Marhoon to shoot on goal.
Al-Hashash snatched the equalizer for Bahrain after exchanging passes with Marhoon. The latter shot the ball and it bounced off the defense in front of Al-Hashash, who put it into the goal (51).
The South Korean team responded quickly and took the lead again after a powerful shot from outside the penalty area by 22-year-old striker Lee (56).
Goalkeeper Ibrahim Lotfallah saved his goal from a third goal after a powerful shot from Heung-Min Son from inside the penalty area turned into a corner (61).
The Korean team increased its lead with a third goal after a quick reverse attack and a through pass from Hwang Bim-un that reached Lee Kang-in, who played the ball in the far corner to Lutfullah’s right (68).
Bahrain’s Argentine coach, Juan Antonio Pizzi, tried to arrange his offensive cards and included Mahdi Humaidan, Jassim Khalif and Ibrahim Al-Wali, but the Korean team tightly closed its defensive zone.
In the final minutes of the match, Son wasted the opportunity to add the fourth goal after being alone with goalkeeper Lotfallah, but he played the ball outside the goal (87).
© 2024 AFP
2024-01-15 13:47:05
#Asian #Cup #South #Korea #beats #Bahrain
