Asian Cup 2019: Qatar 1-0 South Korea: 3 takeaways

Qatar caused a major upset in the AFC Asian Cup yesterday by beating favourites South Korea 1-0 in a quarterfinal match. Qatar have not won the tournament before and would fancy their chances against hosts UAE in the semifinal. South Korea, who have won the Asia Cup twice before, are also one of the strongest footballing nations in Asia.

Korea had more than 60% ball possession in the match and were the better side technically too. However, Qatar scored a wonderful winner in the 78th minute of the match to seal a place in the semis.

Abdel Aziz Hatem scored the only goal of the match with a scorching 25-yard shot.

We would now take a look at the 3 takeaways from the match:

#1 Korea looked the sharper of the two teams, but Qatar fought superbly

Korea were the sharper and the more athletic side of the two and attacked with great pace. The Qataris found it very difficult to cope with the pace of the Koreans but managed to make a lot of interceptions in the midfield. Hatem was a pillar in the midfield and won a lot of balls for Qatar. He also played some nice passes to the forwards.

The Korean midfielders and defenders managed to drop down very quickly to their own half to stop the Qatari attacks. Qatar slowed the game down at times to disrupt the rhythm of the Koreans, as they knew that they would not be able to beat the Koreans in a fast-paced game.

Qatar played some very slick passes in the midfield and their positional play was also very good. They tried to stretch the Korean defenders wide, but could not do so very frequently. However, their no. 11, Akram Afif, made some darting runs and also troubled the Korean centre-backs to an extent.

Paolo Bento, the Korean coach, made his team play a more direct game and play frequent crosses to the Qatar penalty box. On the other hand, Qatar did not play as many crosses and tried to create holes in the Korean defence with some through passes.

#2 Qatari players were outnumbered in the final third but managed to score a wonderful goal

Qatar played a 5-3-2 formation for the majority of the match but switched to a 5-4-1 as soon as they lost possession. However, they lacked width in the attack and their side midfielders could not play too many crosses either. Korea always had 3-4 players inside their own penalty box while defending Qatari attacks, and allowed them very little space in the final third.

Qatar tried to penetrate into the penalty box through the flanks at times but did not succeed in creating a good move. Afif was a constant threat to the Korean defenders and took a few shots at the goal as well.

Qatar also struggled somewhat to increase numbers in the final third but managed to get the elusive goal, as Hatem beat the Korean goalie with a rasping shot. The Korean goalkeeper’s view was blocked by the presence of two of their defenders, and he was a bit late in his reaction.

#3 Korea attacked through the left flank primarily, but the Qatari defence held firm

Korea made most of their attacks through the left flank only, and their left-back Kim Jin-Su was brilliant in his overlaps. Moreover, Son-Heung-Min, Korea’s talismanic captain, also cut in from the left flank frequently to keep troubling the Qatari defenders. Qatar’s Bassam Hisham had a great match yesterday and managed to keep the Korean forwards at bay.

Korea managed to win some corners in the last 10-15 minutes of the match and one of their free-kicks also came off the post. On another occasion, Qatar’s goalkeeper denied Son by saving his shot from inside the penalty box.

Qatar’s defenders defended desperately to prevent the Koreans from getting the equalizer. Bento made some late substitutions and Korea managed to find the net once, but that goal was rightly ruled out offside. Qatar managed to hold onto their lead and sneak out a memorable victory.