AFC Asian Cup 2024: Sorry to see Australia eliminated but wow is Korea so good!

[ASHOOR]

Bani, I watched the game today and while I thought Australia may have what it takes to prevail against South Korea, I am so impressed by the latter and how they play. I watched them against Saudi Arabia and again today against Australia, and you have to admire how they play. Not just with speed, but with extreme professionalism. You rarely see them complain, dropping dead for a foul, shouting at one another as teammates etc. Almost robot-like, for 2 x back to back 120 minute matches. And also, can't talk about the Korean team without mentioning how amazing they are at taking penalties, whether it was the one from today or the perfect PK display they had against Saudi Arabia. They were so precise in putting their goals in far corners of the net, it is like they were controlling the penalties with a remote control device.

With a few teams remaining, it will be a huge loss to the the AFC if we don't end up with a dream final of Japan vs. South Korea, in which I predict will be one of the best finals ever and actually give the slight edge to South Korea. Only thing with SK and as athletic as they are, you can't possibly go two straight games to 120 mins, and having to come from behind in both. The good news is, their next opponent is Jordan which is slightly easier than both KSA and Australia.

 

[Crocodile Bani]

You obviously wrote this before Japan got eliminated

Australia were poor throughout the tournament, though this match against South Korea was easily their best performance.

Australia had so far relied on their physicality and fitness to wear out their opponents. Aside from Craig Goodwin, we don't have any players with flair. No creative midfielders like Harry Kewell, Brett Emerton, Tom Rogic or Aaron Mooy. We have fit and energetic players, but no skill.

Korea ended up doing to us what we do to our opponents. They wore us down, so that we were unable to compete in injury time and then extra time where we fell apart.

We were leading 1-0 going into injury time but we were so tired that it was almost inevitible that we would concede a late goal.

Lewis Miller who is a young member of the Olympic team came on as substitute and conceded the late penalty that led to the equaliser and then gave away the free kick that led to Son Heung-Min scoring the free kick. He, along with Mitch Duke our striker who had several chances to score, have been subject of death threats, which I find vulgar. Mitch Duke plays in the Japanese second division. If our best striker plays in the Japanese second division, it says a lot about the players we are producing. It is not his fault that he is the best we have. Australia needs to produce creative players and strikers who can score goals.

Korea on the other hand, in several matches are leaving everything till injury time. Like Iraq and their defensive concentration, this will catch up with them if they are not careful.

I have enjoyed watching the Asian Cup, despite the time difference. So interesting to see teams like Australia, Iran and Qatar, who were outclassed in the World Cup when they were up against stronger opponents, play in a tournament where the standards are a bit more even.

Looking now like a Korea v Iran final (though Qatar and Jordan will have something to say about that). Despite both being Asian powerhouses, Korea have not been Asian champions since 1960 and Iran have not been Asian champions since 1976.


Just for the record, when I placed a bet on Iraq, I did one for Iran too, so I am supporting them for the rest f the tournament, though from a footballing perspective, I don't care who wins it as long as they deserve it.