Jürgen Klinsmann’s time as coach of South Korea has been largely defined by his unpopularity.
Be it questions over his selections, tactics, not living in Korea as he committed to, or his perceived disrespect for the K League, fans of Taegeuk Warriors have been consistently irked by their German coach and fearful that he was squandering a golden generation of talent.
But now, after a dramatic 2-1 extra-time win over Australia, he’s helmed South Korea to an Asian Cup semifinal.
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And be it because of their coach or despite him, your opinions may vary, Son Heung-Min and company have now twice in their last two games dragged themselves back from the brink of elimination in the final seconds and gone onto victory — demonstrating that there is no game they are out of until the very final whistle sounds.
South Korea’s talisman proved irrepressible on Friday evening, quite simply refusing to let his side lose and in what will likely be the 31-year-old’s last time around being ‘the guy’ on this stage, keeping their dreams of ending a 64-year continental title drought alive.
Indeed, everything changed so quickly. The storyline of the game was altered in a flash.
When the 90 minutes expired at the Al Janoub Stadium, Australia was ahead 1-0. Having got things right for most of the game, they’d taken the lead in the first half through Craig Goodwin and were standing on the verge of establishing their current side as one of the best in their nation’s history.
They should have been ahead by more, to be honest, but at least they had got themselves ahead.
But South Korea kept coming in the seven minutes of added time.
And with the Socceroos having retreated into their shell in a desperate rearguard, they won a penalty when substitute Lewis Miller needlessly brought down Son. It was the exact opposite of the see-the-game-out-move-onto-the-next-one role the defender was supposed to be playing. All he, and the rest of Australia, could do was watch on as Hwang Hee-Chan stepped up to bury a penalty past Mathew Ryan and force extra time.
Surely, though, this still favoured Australia. Right? That was the thinking coming in.
After all, the Socceroos were the beneficiaries of two extra days of rest heading into this game and were renowned as being physical beasts. It was only Wednesday evening that South Korea was grabbing a 99th-minute equaliser against Saudi Arabia before winning on penalties.
You’d think that, but coach Graham Arnold’s moves to see out the game had now left his side ill-suited to rebounding on the sudden level terms of an extra thirty minutes.
Just as they had done throughout the second half in a desperate attempt to get themselves back into the contest, the side in red buzzed around the penalty area, looking for an opening, an angle, or an avenue to slide through that killer shot or a killer pass.
And just before the first 15 of extra time concluded, Miller, again, stuck out a needless leg, this time bringing down Hwang on the very edge of the penalty area. In the inverse of the penalty situation, up stepped Son and everyone in the stadium knew what was about to happen: a free kick was sent brilliantly passed Ryan, and South Korea were on their way to the final four.
Now, Jordan awaits at Ahmad bin Ali Stadium on Tuesday evening. An opponent that the Taegeuk Warriors will be heavily favoured to defeat despite the suspension of Kim Min-Jae for yellow card accumulation and their uninspiring draw in the group stages.
Then, potentially, a final and an opportunity to end a wait for continental glory over half a century long. If the changing narrative surrounding this game felt sudden, what would that trophy do for Klinsmann’s reputation?
There’s still plenty to nitpick because football is a game of opinions, after all. It’s not exactly a good thing that South Korea keep having to force their way back into the game, for example. But he’d have coached them to an Asian Cup! What does that mean?
Australia was always going to be an illuminating test. His side would enter the game as the technically superior outfit and would start Son, Hwang, Lee Kang-In, and Cho Gue-Sung — a frontline that would not look out of place across any of the biggest leagues in Europe.
But Arnold would be content to set his side up in a cohesive, well-disciplined, and compact shape; allowing South Korea to have the ball but in a manner that he believed would be mostly on green and gold terms. This would be backed by a back four that had conceded just a single goal all tournament and was anchored by 6-foot-6 centre-back Harry Souttar, who would gladly repulse most attempts to loft high balls over the top.
And so it came to pass that by the end of the first half, South Korea would have 70% of the ball but no shots — let alone one on target — and Australia would hold a 1-0 lead.
Out of possession, Australia were looking to clog up the middle of the park, moving around the park as a narrow unit and not allowing the South Koreans to work the ball through them. They were pressing when they needed to and making sure that whenever their opponents worked the ball into an even vaguely dangerous area, there was a man on them immediately. On a few early occasions, speculative high balls were sent forward, only for Souttar to easily send them away.
In the 31st minute, a rare South Korean breakthrough arrived, a surgical move through the Socceroos’ defence that saw Seol Young-Woo ghost in behind and square the ball for Hwang to send home. It was a moment of brilliance that had been blunted to that point but fate, on this occasion, smiled on the Socceroos — the flag going off showing that Seol had been offside by a kneecap in the build-up.
And chances were going the other way, too, scary moments of transition. On the stroke of halftime, Australia had a moment, the kind of small opening their game was built around taking.
Hwang In-Beom sent out a hospital ball from the top of his area that was taken away by Goodwin, who kickstarted a move that eventually saw Connor Metcalfe find Nathaniel Atkinson on the overlap. He looped in a ball that felt like it hung in the air for an eternity before falling back to earth, onto the feet of Goodwin, who slashed a volley home to give Australia the lead.
It was a stunning turn of events. Australia were having the game play out on their terms and had grasped their reward. Their pressure, shape, and determination had swung the game in their favour and, in truth, they should have had more than just their one goal. South Korea needed a response. Klinsmann needed a response. And they found one.
Because when the second stanza began, a South Korean onslaught buffeted the Australian defence. Attack, after attack, after attack, after attack. With a renewed sense of energy and purpose, the South Koreans began to find their way through the Australian lines, around them, and in behind them. They had come from behind against Saudi Arabia just three days ago and they weren’t going to go quietly at Al Janoub Stadium.
Australia was being increasingly pegged back and yet, heartbreakingly for those Down Under, they still had two, golden chances to win it. In the 54th minute, the ball was floated to the back post, where Martin Boyle met it with a driven header straight at Jo Hyeon-woo, who also charged down the rebound and Boyle’s attempted follow-up. The ball then found Mitchell Duke in space atop the six-yard box, only for the striker to volley over the bar.
Half an hour later, with Australia under almost complete siege, a rare moment of transition arose as they broke down the right. Miller switched the ball to Jordan Bos on the left, who lifted the ball into Duke for a diving header atop the six-yard-box. This was it! No, it wasn’t, because the resulting attempt flew wide.
These missed opportunities, in a way, helped create a sense of inevitably around South Korea’s goal. Aiden O’Neill, another Arnold substitute designed to see the game, receiving a red card in extra time that effectively sealed it.
When you don’t take your chances against this team, they’ll punish you. And on Friday evening, that’s what Son, that’s what Hwang, and that’s what South Korea did.
You can never count this side out.
