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Uzbekistan who were the pre-match favourites to take the Gold were shot down by South Korea in the Quarter-finals.
Vietnam were expected to challenge for a medal and they did get the opportunity but lost out on a Bronze to the United Arab Emirates.
Qatar, South Korea, and Japan were the other teams to challenge for the medal positions. Fittingly South Korea and Japan featured in the Gold medal. Qatar had a forgettable outing as they were unable to progress beyond the group stages.
South Korea leads the medals table in Men's Football at the Asian Games with 5 Golds, 3 Silvers, and 3 Bronze. Iran is the second most successful nation having won 4 Golds, 2 Silvers, and 1 Bronze. India and Myanmar share the third spot with 2 Golds and a Bronze.
South Korea's Hwang Ui-Jo was the top scorer of the tournament with 9 goals.
Men's Football
Gold Medal Match
Korea was clearly the better team as they enjoyed 63% of ball possession and had 8 shots finding the target of the 18 attempts they tried. Japan, on the other hand, had just 7 shots on goal of which 3 found the target and also committed 22 fouls. Korean coach Kim Hak Bum would have been proud of the way the Koreans conducted themselves in the finals. Defending Champions South Korea won the Gold after a thrilling final against Japan. Korea employed a 4-3-3 formation while Japan was playing a 4-4-2 formation. Both teams were unable to break the deadlock in normal time and the game went into extra time. Korean forward Lee Seung-Woo broke the deadlock in the 93rd minute and doubled the lead 8 minutes later through Hwang in the first period of extra time. Japan pushed hard to attack and pulled one goal back through their forward Ueda's header.
Final Score: South Korea (57) defeated Japan (61) 2-1 (Extra Time). (Korea - Lee Seung-Woo 93', Hwang Hee-Chan 101'; Japan - Ayase Ueda 115').
Bronze Medal Match
Vietnam and UAE were deadlocked at 1-1 after the end of extra time and went on to penalties were UAE prevailed to take the Bronze. Vietnam's coach Park Hang Seo stuck to the attacking 5-2-3 formation which had yielded good results. UAE's countered with a 4-4-2 formation and they scored first through their forward Ahmad Alhashmi in the 17th minute. Vietnam levelled the score through their captain Nguyen van Quyet. Vietnam would have been hard done by the end result, but they played brilliantly having 61% ball possession, had 19 shots on goal of which 10 were on target.
Ahmad Alhashmi, Zayed Al-Ameri, Khaled Aldhanhani, Shahin Aldarmki scored for the UAE in the shootout. Vu Van Thanh, Ha Duc Chinh, Phan Van Duc scored for Vietnam, while Nguyen Quang Hai missed his penalty and Tran Minh Vuong's shot was saved by the goalie.
Final Score: United Arab Emirates (77) defeated Vietnam (102) 1-1 (4-3 on Penalties). (Ahmad Alhashmi (UAE) 17', Nguyen Van Quyet (VIE) 27'),
Semi-Finals
South Korea crushed Vietnam's hopes with an emphatic 3-1 scoreline in the first semifinal. Korea came up with an aggressive 4-2-4 formation against the 5-3-2 formation from Vietnam. Korea was lethal in their attacks as all their 5 shots were on target.
Final Score: South Korea (57) defeated Vietnam (102) 3-1. (Lee Seung-Woo (KOR) 7', 55', Hwang Ui Jo (KOR) 55', Tran Minh Vuong (VIE) 70').
Japan booked a place in the Finals after a win by a solitary goal through their forward Ayase Ueda. Japan employed a 3-2-2-2-1 formation which helped them to have 54% of the ball possession. UAE's 4-3-3 formation helped them with 5 shots on goal, but they were unable to convert them into goals.
Final Score: Japan (61) defeated United Arab Emirates (77) 1-0. (Ayase Ueda (JPN) 78').
Quarterfinals
Vietnam had to dig in deep to get the victory in the first half of extra time through their substitute Nguyen Van Toan. Vietnam employed a 5-3-2 formation, but Syria's 3-5-2 formation helped them to have 16 shots, of which 7 found the target but could not convert them into a goal. Vietnam committed 26 fouls during the match.
Final Score: Vietnam (102) defeated Syria (73) 1-0 (Extra Time). (Nguyen Van Toan (VIE) 108').
The most pulsating encounter of the tournament was played between the two favourites in the competition and Korea emerged on top at the extra time. Hwang Ui-Jo's hat-trick helped South Korea to get on level terms after taking the lead initially. Masharipov equalized for Uzbek's and then Ikromjon's double strike helped them to take the lead. It was sad to see the game end through a penalty late in the injury time. Ikromjon Alibaev was sent off for his second yellow card violation and Jaloliddin Masharipov was given a straight red.
Even though Uzbeks had 53% ball possession and had 7 shots on target, they were not disciplined enough in the end as they had committed 26 fouls overall. They should have taken the game to be decided on penalties.
Final Score: South Korea (57) defeated Uzbekistan (95) 4-3 (Extra Time). (KOR - Hwang Ui-Jo 3', 34', 75', Hwang Hee-Chan 118' (pen); UZB - Jaloliddin Masharipov 17', Ikromjon Alibaev 53', 55').
Japan got past Saudi Arabia scoring all the three goals of the match, albeit one was an own goal by defender Yugo Tatsuta. Midfielder Yuto Iwasaki scored twice to ensure that Japan progressed to the Semifinals. Japan employed a 4-5-1 combination against the 4-2-2-2-1 by the Saudi's. Though Saudi's enjoyed 57% of ball possession, Japanese players found the target on 7 times in their 12 attempts in total.
Final Score: Japan (61) defeated Saudi Arabia (67) 2-1. (Japan - Yuto Iwasaki 31', 73'; Yugo Tatsuta 39' (OG)).
North Korea who had 51% of ball possession and had 18 shots, of which 5 found the target still lost to UAE through penalties to bow out from the 2018 Asian games. Both teams were playing a 4-3-3 formation and North Korea was the first to score in the second half through their forward Kim Yu Song. Emirates restored parity through their forward Ali Alyahyaee.
For UAE, Alhashmi Ahmad, Alameri Zayed, Aldhanhani Khaled, Abdulla Husain, Musabbah Rashed scored in the penalty shoot-out. Kim Yu Song, Jang Kuk Chol, Ri Un Chol scored for Korea. So Jong Hyok's penalty was saved by the Emirates goalkeeper.
Final Score: United Arab Emirates (77) defeated North Korea (108) 1-1 (5-3 on penalties). (Kim Yu Song (PRK) 63'; Ali Alyahyaee (UAE) 67').
Pre-Quarters
China faltered in the pre-quarters against Saudi Arabia in a game which saw 7 goals being scored. China playing a 4-3-3 formation could not get past the strong 4-5-1 formation of the Saudi's as they fed their lone striker with ample goal scoring opportunities. Haroune Moussa Camara scored a hat-trick and Saad Al-Selouli scored one more as they took a 4-0 lead. Though China enjoyed 58% ball possession and having 9 shots on target, their poor conversion rate and brilliant saves from the Saudi stopper let them down to be on the losing side.
Final Score: Saudi Arabia (67) defeated China (75) 4-3. (KSA - Haroune Moussa Camara 16', 33', 60', Saad Al-Selouli 29'; CHN - Junsheng Yao 80', Huang Zichang 88', Wei Shihao 90'+5).
UAE was taken to a penalty shoot-out by hosts Indonesia through a late equalizer in injury time through Stefano Lilipaly. Though Indonesia dominated ball possession and has had more shots on goal they were unable to convert them into goals.
In the penalty shootout, Ahmad Alhashmi, Zayed Alameri, Khaled Aldhanhani, Husain Abdulla scored for UAE while Abdalla Ghanim Alalawi hits the post from the penalty spot. For Indonesia, the scorers were Stefano Janjte Lilipaly, Alberto Goncalves Da Costa, Muhammad Hargianto. Septian David Maulana missed his penalty and Saddil Ramdani's shot was saved by the Goalkeeper.
Final Score: United Arab Emirates (77) defeated Indonesia (164) 2-2 (4-3 on Penalties). (UAE - Zayed Alameri - 20', 65'; INA - Alberto Gonçalves da Costa 52', Stefano Yantje Lilipaly 90'+5).
Japan's 4-5-1 formation continuously applied pressure on the 3-4-3 gameplay adopted by Malaysia. Japan had 64% ball possession and reeled off 11 shots, of which 7 found the target. They had to wait till the 90th minute when their substitute Ayase Ueda scored to break the deadlock.
Final Score: Japan (61) defeated Malaysia (171) 1-0. (JPN - Ayase Ueda 90').
North Korea employed a 5-2-3 formation and used the wings to great effect to pummel 13 shots on goal with 5 on target. They also enjoyed 58% of ball possession. The forwards opened the scoring to take a 2-0 lead at the end of the first half. They added one more through their midfielder Kang Kuk-Chol before Bangladesh pulled one back late in injury time.
Final Score: North Korea (108) defeated Bangladesh (194) 3-1. ((PRK) - Kim Yu-song 14’ (Pen), Han Yong-Thae 38’, Kang Kuk-Chol 68’; (BAN) - Saad Uddin 90’+1).
Earlier matches,
Syria (73) 1-0 Palestine (99) (Ashkar Ahmad 73')
Uzbekistan (95) 3-0 Hong Kong (142) (Ikromjon Alibaev 27', Javokhir Sidikov 60', Zabhikhillo Urinboev 65').
Vietnam (102) 1-0 Bahrain (113) (Cong Phuong Nguyen 88').
South Korea (57) 2-0 Iran (37) (Ui Jo Hwang 40', Seungwoo Lee 55').
Final Standings
1. South Korea. 2. Japan. 3. UAE. 4. Vietnam. 5. Uzbekistan. 6. Syria. 7. North Korea. 8. Saudi Arabia. 9. China. 10. Indonesia. 11. Palestine. 12. Malaysia. 13. Iran. 14. Hong Kong. 15. Bangladesh. 16. Bahrain. 17. Pakistan. 18. Thailand. 19. Myanmar. 20. Kyrgyzstan. 21. Nepal. 22. Laos. 23. East Timor. 24. Chinese Taipei.
