Daei's four goals boot S.Korea out of Asian Cup<\/p>\n
ABU DHABI (Reuter): Iranian striker Ali Daei scored four goals
\nin 22 minutes to send Asian soccer powerhouse South Korea
\ncrashing out of the Asian Cup with a stunning 6-2 defeat Monday.<\/p>\n
Iran now plays in the semifinals against Saudi Arabia which
\nbeat China 4-3 in the day's other quarterfinal tie.<\/p>\n
Hosts the United Arab Emirates face Kuwait, who caused the
\ntournament's first major upset by knocking out holder Japan on
\nSunday, in the other semifinal with both games being played
\nWednesday.<\/p>\n
The quarterfinal results mean that the two cohosts of the 2002
\nWorld Cup, Japan and South Korea, have both failed to reach the
\nfinal stages of the tournament.<\/p>\n
Daei's second half goal blitz, which took his tournament tally
\nto seven, came after Iran battled from a 1-2 halftime deficit to
\ndraw level in the 51st minute through Khodadad Azizi.<\/p>\n
The Koreans, one of the pre-tournament favorites, had proved a
\ndisappointment throughout the competition, managing to beat only
\nIndonesia, drawing against the UAE and losing to Kuwait in the
\nprevious round.<\/p>\n
Their defense crumbled Wednesday when Daei scored his first in
\nthe 66th minute to put Iran 3-2 up after winning the ball from
\nKorea's Hong Myung-bo and running 20 meters unchallenged before
\nplacing his shot to the left of keeper Kim Byung-ji.
\nHe and Iran never looked back.<\/p>\n
Daei's second in the 76th minute was the best of the day and
\none of the best in the competition. With his back to goal, he
\ncontrolled a long ball and in a single movement turned and fired
\nan unstoppable shot from 20 meters that flew into the top corner.<\/p>\n
He completed his hat trick seven minutes later from a pass by
\nKhodadad Azizi and grabbed his fourth from the penalty spot two
\nminutes from time.<\/p>\n
Kim Do-hoon had given South Korea the lead in the 11th minute
\nwith a half-volley from 12 meters. Iranian defender Karim Bagheri
\nequalized in the 30th minute with a deflected header.<\/p>\n
A minute after coming on, substitute Sin Tae-yong restored the
\nKoreans' lead in the 34th minute.<\/p>\n
Recovery<\/p>\n
In the other quarterfinal Saudi Arabia recovered after going
\ndown 2-0 in the opening 16 minutes to win 4-3.<\/p>\n
Substitute Yousif Al Thunai scored two goals and striker Sami
\nJaber and Fahad Mahalel one apiece.<\/p>\n
China took only six minutes to go into the lead through
\ndefender Zhang Enhua who rose unchallenged to head in a corner
\nfrom the right.<\/p>\n
Peng Weiguo gave China a deserved second goal in the 16th
\nminute.<\/p>\n
The turning point in the match came in the 30th minute when
\nthe Saudis made a tactical change, taking off a defender and
\nputting on winger Thunai. It paid off immediately.<\/p>\n
Less than 60 seconds later, Thunai scored and the Saudis then
\nequalized through Jaber in the 34th minute.<\/p>\n
The Saudis then took charge and went 3-2 ahead through Fahad
\nAl Mahalel two minutes before halftime.<\/p>\n
Thunai put the tie beyond China's reach with his second in the
\n65th minute. Zhang scored his second and China's third a minute
\nbefore the final whistle but it was too late for the Chinese.<\/p>\n
Teams<\/p>\n
China: 20-Ou Chuliang; 4-Zhang Enhua; 5-Xu Hong; 6-Fan Zhiyi; 8-
\nMa Mingyu (9-Cao Xiandong 52); 11-Peng Weiguo (7-Hao Haidong 57);
\n13-Sun Jihai; 14-Jiang Feng; 17-Gao Feng; 21-Liu Yue (19-Wu
\nChengying 64); 23 Xie Hui<\/p>\n
Saudi Arabia: 1-Mohammed Al Daeyea; 2-Mohammed Al Jahani (15-
\nYousif Al Thunai 30); 3-Mohammed Al Khilaiwi; 4-Abdullah Zubrom;
\n8-Khalid Al Temawi; 9-Sami Al Jaber; 10-Fahad Mahalel (17-Abdulla
\nAl Garni 83); 12-Ibrahim Al Harbi (24-Khamees Al Zahrani 73); 13-
\nHussain Sulaimani; 14-Khalid Al Mowaled; 16- Khamis Al Dossary.<\/p>\n
Iran: 22-Nima Nakisa; 2-Naeim Sadavi; 4-Karim Bagheri; 5-
\nMohammad Peiravang; 7-Ali Reza Mansourian; 9-Hamid Rezaestili;
\n10-Ali Daei; 11-Khodad Azizi; 14-Mohammad Khakpour; 18-Farshad
\nFalahatzade; 25-Mehrdad Minrdad.<\/p>\n
South Korea: 1-Kim Byung-ji; 5-Huh Ki-tae (3-Park Kwang-hyun 70);
\n6-Shin Hong-gi 9-Kim Do-hoon; 11-Ko Jeong-woon; 17-Ha Seok-ju;
\n19-Seo Jong-won (7-Sin Tae-yong 33); 20-Hong Myung-bo; 22-Lee
\nYoung-jin; 23-Yoo Sang-chul; 24-Kim Joo-sung (12-Lee Ki-hyung 54).<\/p>",
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