South Korea continued their journey in the U23 Asian Cup, with the 88th minute winner from Shin Min-ha securing the win over the Australians.
The Australians defended and pressed very well in a 4-4-2, emulating the French National Team’s way of block defending with the front 6 and the back 4 concentrated in the central corridor, picking up any player in that area but also ready to close down their direct opponents. However, once a Korean midfielder dragged his Australian counterpart into the pocket, a second Korean midfielder ran into the vacated zone away from the attention of the Australian forwards and played from there.
Australia was inconsistent in the way the full backs pressed and the centre backs defended the long ball, as Baek Ga-on ran in behind and lobbed the Australian goalkeeper for the first goal.
The Australians could only break open the South Koreans with counterattacks and they were denied a penalty with a dubious interpretation of the handball rule. They found the equaliser in the 2nd half where a quick attack saw centre forward Luka Jovanovic ran in behind the Korean defence, around the Korean keeper to score.
The Koreans defended with a 4-5-1 and their defensive lines were very straight, allowing Australians pockets of space in the middle and they continued to spray long balls to Austrian Hartberg right winger Jed Drew. The South Koreans adjusted their distances limiting the space between the lines. Here, the Australians struggled to break through as there were inconsistencies in dragging a South Korean defender out to press and exploiting the space in behind. At times, the distance between the Australian passer in deep positions and the multiple teammates overloading in between the lines was too great, allowing for easy interceptions.
The South Koreans won the game via a corner. With only 6 Australian outfield players defending this corner, Shin Min-ha lost his marker to head the ball in, sending the Koreans to the semi-finals.
Here was the player who stood out:
Kim Dong-jin, South Korea, midfielder born 2003.
The captain of the team, he played as a defensive midfielder due to his stronger physique in this youth team even though he is a central midfielder for his club Pohang Steelers. The left-footed passer stood out with his sharp turns, reverse passes, group play and understanding of the passing lanes to open up the Australian block. He sometimes did not free himself up for short passes and also struggled to find teammates in behind or switching play because his first touch was too central which forced his body to move towards the body’s centre line to play the pass. In the unfamiliar DM role, he made numerous defensive recoveries and broke up opposition attacks for the team, though he was slightly out of position positioning defending two Australian players on either side of him. As the game entered the last 15 minutes and having played many minutes in the tournament, he missed some tackles.
Potential: Denmark / Belgium, Cercle Brugge
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