Daei's four goals boot S.Korea out of Asian Cup
Daei's four goals boot S.Korea out of Asian Cup
ABU DHABI (Reuter): Iranian striker Ali Daei scored four goals in 22 minutes to send Asian soccer powerhouse South Korea crashing out of the Asian Cup with a stunning 6-2 defeat Monday.
Iran now plays in the semifinals against Saudi Arabia which beat China 4-3 in the day's other quarterfinal tie.
Hosts the United Arab Emirates face Kuwait, who caused the tournament's first major upset by knocking out holder Japan on Sunday, in the other semifinal with both games being played Wednesday.
The quarterfinal results mean that the two cohosts of the 2002 World Cup, Japan and South Korea, have both failed to reach the final stages of the tournament.
Daei's second half goal blitz, which took his tournament tally to seven, came after Iran battled from a 1-2 halftime deficit to draw level in the 51st minute through Khodadad Azizi.
The Koreans, one of the pre-tournament favorites, had proved a disappointment throughout the competition, managing to beat only Indonesia, drawing against the UAE and losing to Kuwait in the previous round.
Their defense crumbled Wednesday when Daei scored his first in the 66th minute to put Iran 3-2 up after winning the ball from Korea's Hong Myung-bo and running 20 meters unchallenged before placing his shot to the left of keeper Kim Byung-ji. He and Iran never looked back.
Daei's second in the 76th minute was the best of the day and one of the best in the competition. With his back to goal, he controlled a long ball and in a single movement turned and fired an unstoppable shot from 20 meters that flew into the top corner.
He completed his hat trick seven minutes later from a pass by Khodadad Azizi and grabbed his fourth from the penalty spot two minutes from time.
Kim Do-hoon had given South Korea the lead in the 11th minute with a half-volley from 12 meters. Iranian defender Karim Bagheri equalized in the 30th minute with a deflected header.
A minute after coming on, substitute Sin Tae-yong restored the Koreans' lead in the 34th minute.
Recovery
In the other quarterfinal Saudi Arabia recovered after going down 2-0 in the opening 16 minutes to win 4-3.
Substitute Yousif Al Thunai scored two goals and striker Sami Jaber and Fahad Mahalel one apiece.
China took only six minutes to go into the lead through defender Zhang Enhua who rose unchallenged to head in a corner from the right.
Peng Weiguo gave China a deserved second goal in the 16th minute.
The turning point in the match came in the 30th minute when the Saudis made a tactical change, taking off a defender and putting on winger Thunai. It paid off immediately.
Less than 60 seconds later, Thunai scored and the Saudis then equalized through Jaber in the 34th minute.
The Saudis then took charge and went 3-2 ahead through Fahad Al Mahalel two minutes before halftime.
Thunai put the tie beyond China's reach with his second in the 65th minute. Zhang scored his second and China's third a minute before the final whistle but it was too late for the Chinese.
Teams
China: 20-Ou Chuliang; 4-Zhang Enhua; 5-Xu Hong; 6-Fan Zhiyi; 8- Ma Mingyu (9-Cao Xiandong 52); 11-Peng Weiguo (7-Hao Haidong 57); 13-Sun Jihai; 14-Jiang Feng; 17-Gao Feng; 21-Liu Yue (19-Wu Chengying 64); 23 Xie Hui
Saudi Arabia: 1-Mohammed Al Daeyea; 2-Mohammed Al Jahani (15- Yousif Al Thunai 30); 3-Mohammed Al Khilaiwi; 4-Abdullah Zubrom; 8-Khalid Al Temawi; 9-Sami Al Jaber; 10-Fahad Mahalel (17-Abdulla Al Garni 83); 12-Ibrahim Al Harbi (24-Khamees Al Zahrani 73); 13- Hussain Sulaimani; 14-Khalid Al Mowaled; 16- Khamis Al Dossary.
Iran: 22-Nima Nakisa; 2-Naeim Sadavi; 4-Karim Bagheri; 5- Mohammad Peiravang; 7-Ali Reza Mansourian; 9-Hamid Rezaestili; 10-Ali Daei; 11-Khodad Azizi; 14-Mohammad Khakpour; 18-Farshad Falahatzade; 25-Mehrdad Minrdad.
South Korea: 1-Kim Byung-ji; 5-Huh Ki-tae (3-Park Kwang-hyun 70); 6-Shin Hong-gi 9-Kim Do-hoon; 11-Ko Jeong-woon; 17-Ha Seok-ju; 19-Seo Jong-won (7-Sin Tae-yong 33); 20-Hong Myung-bo; 22-Lee Young-jin; 23-Yoo Sang-chul; 24-Kim Joo-sung (12-Lee Ki-hyung 54).