Iraq and Saudi Arabia through to final

Persopress-The Asian cup final will kick off on July 29th, 2007 with two of West Asia's best teams, Iraq and Saudi Arabia. After beating Vietnam in the Quarterfinals Iraq came up to play South Korea the favorites of the match. We had previously seen Iraq beat Australia in an impressive 3-1 win but it was surprising to see them in the Finals of this tournament. The Iraqis started the first 15 minutes of the match with a good start as they constantly attacked the Korean defense. As the Iraqis wore out we saw the Koreans step up to the plate and create one or two chances but the first half turned out even. The second half was fairly similar as both teams attacked but there were no goals and the game had to go into extra time. The problem with the Iraqi players were that they were getting amazing chances but no one was passing in the penalty box as the Iraqi players all wanted to score themselves. In Extra time Iraq had the upper hand as they had one or two amazing chances but could not convert as the Korean defense would get very lucky to tap the ball inches away from the net. The game would have to go to penalties with the game all tied up at 0-0. Both the Iraqis and Koreans scored their first 3 penalties but on the fourth, Korean Player Yeom shot a poor shot as it was tapped out by Iraqi goal keeper Sabri. Ahmed Mnajed then scored for Iraq but Kim Jung-woo’s final attempt for the Koreans hit the right post as the Iraqis gained their spot in the Asian Cup finals for the first time.

The Saudis defeated 2 time in row Asian Cup Champions Japan in the Asian Cup 2007 Semifinals. The Saudis gained the lead in the 35'th with Yasser Al-Qahtani's shot which deflected of Nakazawa leg only to go in the net. Only two minutes later Nakazawa ran passed Endo to convert in the 37th minute. Malek Maaz the man of the match netted a beautiful goal after running past Nakazawa and Yuki Abe to head Ahmed Al Bahari wonderful cross from the right. Again 5 minutes later Yuki Abe netted an acrobatic scissor kick into the back of the Saudis net. For the second time Japan had canceled out the Saudi but the draw only lasted 4 minutes as Malek Maaz scored for the second time after dribbiling in the penalty box and shooting past goalkeeper Kawaguchi to give the Saudis the lead they needed to book them a spot in the Finals. Japan had one final chance in the 75th as substitute Naotake Hanyu send a roaring shot from long range to hit the corner post and to keep the Saudis in front. The Score ended 3-2 and will give the Saudis a chance to be the first team to win 4 Asian Cup titles.

Saudi Arabia and Iraq will go at it on the 29th while Japan and South Korea will play the 3/4th place match on the 28th. Saudi Arabia will probably be seen as the favorites but there is no way any one can predict what can happen between these two teams. A win for Iraq would be their first Asian Cup Championship while for the Saudis it would be their fourth. The Japan and South Korea match will be to see who will take 3rd or 4th place thus not allowing Korea or Japan to take the first place title.

South Korea Advances to Semifinals of Asian Cup, Leaving Iran in its Wake

Iran 0-0 South Korea

(South Korea win 4-2 on Penalties)

PersoPress- South Korea’s defensive performance saw them overcome their Asian rivals Iran on a wet and rainy day in Malaysia. Iran and South Korea have met four times in the last four Asian Cups, meeting once in each tournament. The tournament in 1996 provided a 6-2 victory for Iran, with the tournament in Lebanon in 2000 giving Korea a 2-1 victory in extra time in the quarterfinals. Iran won the last meeting in 2004 in an enthralling end-to-end encounter in 2004, so many fans turned out to watch the next episode of Iran and Korea, expecting another high-scoring game. However, that was not to be.

Iran came onto the field with high expectations as favorites to win the tournament. Surprisingly, Amir Ghalenoei opted to make four changes to his squad that defeated Malaysia. However, it was his side that made the brighter start, and on the run of play maybe should have scored a couple of times in the match, had it not been for a couple of awful offside calls from referee Al Badwawi. The best chance that fell to Iran was an Ali Karimi effort that was smothered by Woon-Jae Lee in the Korean goal. A lucky bounce saw the Iranian midfielder through on goal, only to see his shot stopped by the plucky Korean. The veteran proved vital in this match, and would continue to prove his importance throughout. However, South Korea was unable to make many openings of their own, and their young team, led by Pim Verbeek, could only muster a disappointing free-kick in the opening stages. Keeper Hassan Roudbarian was left with little to do after a poor first half from both sides.

On the heavy pitch, neither team was able to sustain a flowing passing rhythm. Mistake after mistake at the start of the second half saw no side dominate, but also saw neither side give in. Rahman Rezaei, Jalal Hosseini, and Mohammad Nosrati performed heroically in the Iranian defense, cutting off any sort of danger by South Korea in open play for nearly the full 120 minutes, saving Iran from the few unsuccessful efforts the Koreans could muster in the match. Iran was able to penetrate the Korean defense with more meaningful attacks, but keeper Woon Jae-Lee and defenders Kim Jin-Kyu, Kim Sang-Sik, Kim Chi-Woo, Oh Beom-Seok, and Kang Min-Soo did their part to keep Iran out, although Iran became less and less difficult to handle as the match progressed.

Iran looked the more positive side at the beginning of the second half, having a foray or two on goal with the occasional shot here and there. Once again, however, they relied on Ali Karimi to do most of the work in the midfield, while Andranik Teymourian and Javad Nekounam were struggling to create any openings in the South Korean defense.

Despite the edge in possession and overall chances in Iran’s favor, South Korea was able to muster a threatening spell of possession in the last five minutes with a few successive free kicks that defender Jalal Hosseini did well to clear. At the end of 90 minutes, both teams cancelled each other out and left an unpredictable extra-time period looming.

The extra-time period was rather uneventful, but contained an Iranian attack that may well have changed the outcome of the game. Ali Karimi beautifully skipped by three Korean defenders with brilliant skill and left it off for Javad Nekounam, who crushed it wide of the stranded Woon Jae-Lee’s left-hand post. However it wasn’t meant to be in extra-time for Iran either, seeing that South Korea wanted to settle the match on penalties. However, one notable substitution was that goalkeeper Hassan Rodbarian came off for youngster Vahid Talebloo in the closing stages of extra-time.

In penalties, South Korea and Iran made both of their opening spot kicks, but when the Koreans scored their second, Woon Jae-Lee saved Mahdavikia’s kick, making it 2-1 to the Korean side after four kicks. However, Vahid Talebloo quickly spared Mahdavikia’s blushes with an unorthodox, but fantastic save against Kim Do-Heon. Reza Enayati made it 2-2 for Iran, before the Koreans took the lead again after another solid penalty. However, Rasoul Khatibi, the most disappointing player of the night, stepped up to keep Iran on level terms. The Iranian forward couldn’t muster any kind of threatening shot on goal all night, and it proved that his night got worse as he scuffed an effort down the middle for Woon Jae-Lee to kick-save. This left South Korea with a 3-2 lead and a chance to clinch the victory, which seemed unlikely at the start of the evening. However, a fantastic penalty by Kim Jung-Woo sent Talebloo the wrong way, thus ousting Iran for a semi-final date with Iraq.

Special thanks to: ~Kory Kianpour