\\\'Sonaldo\\\' sinks Uzbeks as S Korea reach semis

FE Team | Published: January 23, 2015 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00

MELBOURNE, Jan 22 (AFP): South Korea's golden boy Son Heung-Min struck twice in extra time to give the Taeguk Warriors a 2-0 win over Uzbekistan in a nail-biting Asian Cup quarter-final Thursday.
The man dubbed "Sonaldo" by his team-mates scored with a diving header after 104 minutes and slammed home a second moments before the final whistle, leaving on a stretcher with exhaustion as the Koreans set up a meeting against either Iran or Iraq in the last four.
"There was big pressure on us," South Korea coach Uli Stielike told reporters after coaxing his team of walking wounded to a fourth straight win. "If we'd lost, we would have been on the plane home and face a lot of criticism."
Injuries had already ruled out winger Lee Chung-Yong and midfielder Koo Ja-Cheol, while superstar Son has yet to fully regain fitness after being floored by a flu bug earlier in the competition.
"No other team has had to show such mental strength and sacrifice as our boys," added Stielike. "To lose two of their leaders and still pick them themselves up. I nearly didn't pick Son because of his illness-he's still not 100 percent.
"I told the players this morning that we are all human and everyone has a shitty day. The problem is getting to 90 minutes and still being ready to push through. The boys played 120 minutes and they were all dead. Now our biggest issue is medical."
South Korea, World Cup semi-finalists in 2002 but seeking to end 55 years of hurt in Asia's showcase tournament, had to toil for their victory against 2011 semi-finalists Uzbekistan in Melbourne.
Goalkeeper Kim Jin-Hyeon raced off his line to deny Sanjar Tursunov during the early skirmishes as Uzbekistan's aerial assault caused havoc in the Korean defence.
At the other end, Son's curling effort was clawed away brilliantly by Ignatiy Nesterov.
Striker Lee Jeong-Hyeop's header forced another acrobatic save from Nesterov five minutes after the break, but moments later Kim's attempted clearance almost ricocheted into the Korean goal after cannoning off defender Kim Jin-Su's backside.