SEOUL, Two former head coaches for South Korea were sent packing from the knockout stage of the ongoing Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup in Qatar this weekend.
First, Indonesia, coached by Shin Tae-yong, lost to Australia 4-0 in the round of 16 at Jassim bin Hamad Stadium in Doha on Sunday.
Later in the day, Tajikistan defeated the United Arab Emirates (UAE), coached by Paulo Bento, 5-3 in the penalty shootout.
Shin coached South Korea at the 2018 FIFA World Cup, where the team suffered a group stage exit but went down swinging with a 2-0 upset of the defending champion Germany. Bento succeeded Shin and became the longest-serving head coach in South Korean football history. He capped off that run by leading the Taegeuk Warriors to the round of 16 at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Both Indonesia and the UAE were on the same side of the bracket as South Korea. With South Korea playing Saudi Arabia in the round of 16 on Tuesday, Indonesia had a chance to become the quarterfinals opponent for Shin’
s old team, while the UAE could potentially have had a showdown against South Korea in the semifinals.
For 146th-ranked Indonesia, though, Australia, world No. 25, proved to be too much. Despite some valiant pressing, Indonesia, playing in the Asian Cup knockout stage for the first time, never recovered after Elkan Baggott scored an own goal just 12 minutes into the match.
“I guess it was just a pipe dream for us to meet South Korea in the quarterfinals,” Shin said with a smile afterward. “As our players gain more experience, I think it will eventually become a reality for us to face South Korea at a tournament like this. Of the four matches we played here, I think this was our best match.”
Shin said he didn’t want his underdog side to simply sit back and play a defensive-minded game.
“We play football to win, not to take a draw,” Shin said. “We thought long and hard about ways to beat Australia. Even though we have young and inexperienced players, I felt we would have our chance if we pressed up high. We
lacked clinical finishing because of our inexperience. As we get more matches under our belt, I think we will narrow the gap with Australia.”
Hours after the Indonesian loss, the UAE fell to Tajikistan on penalties at Ahmad bin Ali Stadium in Al Rayyan, west of Doha. The UAE, ranked 64th, had reached the semifinals at each of the past two Asian Cups, but the streak ended against 106th-ranked Tajikistan, playing in the AFC tournament for the first time.
Vahdat Hanonov’s header put Tajikistan up 1-0 at the half-hour mark, before Khalifa Al Hammadi headed home during second-half stoppage time to force the extra session.
All five Tajikistan players converted their spot kicks in the shootout, while Tajikistan goalkeeper Rustam Yatimov made a huge save on Caio Canedo for the win.
“The match was a little bit what we predicted, a difficult match against a good team that has a good organization, good principle, especially in the attacking phase with the fast players in front with good mobility,” Bento said. “And w
e felt some problems, especially in the second half. I think that in the first half, we controlled the game. In the second half, we were not able to control the game in the same way.”
Source: Yonhap News Agency