AFC Asian Cup Round of 16: Three reasons why Korea Republic beat Bahrain

#1 Workload undertaken by the Korean Midfielders make the difference

The Korea Republic has one of the best and star-studded midfield in all of Asia. With Son Heung Min the Premier League star who plays for Tottenham Hotspurs captaining the side a lot was expected from the Korean midfield, and so far they have been doing just that.

Goalscorer Hwang Heechan plays for Hamburg SV in Germany while Lee Chungyong plays for VFL Bochum in Germany. The players mentioned above along with Son were crucial to Korea's victory over Bahrain on Tuesday, 22nd January.

Hwang Heechan played as the second striker today along with Hwang Uijo while Son was the given the freedom to roam around the park. Son kept on changing his position which was a big problem for the Bahrain defence as he was doubled marked at all times. While Son took two to three markers away with him, it left the likes of Hwang Heechan, Hwang Inbeom, and Lee Chungyong with more free space.

Son was closely marked by the Bahrainian defence.

Son played the role of the leader to perfection today as he was often seeing tracking back and covering for his centre-backs while Bahrain went for the counter-attack.

The Korean Midfield also pressed as a unit and won a lot of second balls due to well-planned pressing in the midfield.

When the game drifted into extra time, it was the Korean midfield ability to stay calm and keep going that gave South Korea the ultimate victory.