By JAE-SUK YOO, Associated Press Writer
BUSAN, South Korea - Defending champion Iran advanced to the Asian Games soccer final against Japan, knocking out World Cup semifinalist South Korea in a penalty shootout Thursday.
South Korea's loss followed a miss by World Cup starter Lee Young-pyo, the host team's second kicker. His shot caught the crossbar left of Iran's goalkeeper Ebrahim Mirazpour, and Iran went on to win the shootout 5-3.
With his team leading 4-3, Yahya Golmohammadi kicked the winner past South Korean goalkeeper Lee Woon-jae.
The two teams had been scoreless through regulation time and 30 minutes of extra time.
| "I congratulate my
players. This game was full of duels. It was a real fight," said Iran coach
Brancho Ivan Choviech. The disappointment was great for the South Koreans.
The only Asian nation ever to reach the World Cup semifinals, South Korea
was the gold-medal favorite despite having only five of its World Cup stars
taking part because of an age limit of 23.
"I feel responsible for the loss as the coach. On behalf of the team, I apologize to the fans," said South Korean coach Park Hang-seo. Japan, co-host with South Korea for the World Cup in June, trounced Thailand 3-0 earlier in the day to advance to the championship match on Sunday.
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| Iranian soccer players run in jubilation after defeating South Korea (news - web sites) on penalty kicks in the 14th Busan Asian Games men's football semifinals n Busan, South Korea, |
Backed by 30,000 soccer-mad fans filling suburban Gudeok Stadium, South Korea dominated most of game but could not break Iran's tight defense.
Starting all five stars, the Koreans had the better first half against Iran, which was playing without star striker Ali Daei. He flew back to Tehran following the death of his 70-year-old father from a heart attack.
Their first chance came in the 10th minute when Kim Du-hyun rushed into the penalty box and launched a hard right-footer. But the ball bounced off the goalkeeper's right-hand post.
Two minutes into the second half, Iran forward Javad Kazemeyan shook South Korea's net with a diving header, connecting with a low pass from teammate Alireza Vahedi Nikbakhat. But the linesman called the play offside.
South Korea also had a couple of close chances at the end of play.
 |
Fourteen minutes
into overtime, second-half substitute Lee Dong-gook launched a strong
right-footer, but the ball caught the bar. Lee also had a one-on-one chance
with Mirazupour, but sharply angled shot went wide.
Iran also had several chances, including a hard shot by Saeid Lotfi outside the penalty box that went just over the bar. The Iranians felt the absence of Daei, its 1998 World Cup team member. "Our players tried to reduce his pain by getting the medal," Choviech said. Hoping to build on its World Cup success, South Korea had called in Park Ji-sung from Japan to join his former World Cup teammates Choi Tae-wook, Lee Chun-soo and Lee Young-pyo, as well as goalkeeper Lee Won-jae. Park came in between games for his pro team, Kyoto Purple Sanga of Japan's J-league. "We had a lot of chances, but just could not make them," Park said. |
| Iranian soccer players celebrate their win over South Korea |
Shoot-out Agony Ends S. Korean Dreams
BUSAN _ Goalkeeper Lee Woon-jae was unable to repeat his World Cup penalty shoot-out heroics as Lee Young-pyo's missed spot kick cost South Korea a place in the finals.
Iran stunned a packed Gudeok Stadium, defeating the home side 5-3 from the penalty spot after a tense and hard-fought 0-0 draw, taking what many had assumed to be their place in the Asian Games final against Japan.
Defeat was a bitter pill to swallow for Park Hang-seo's team, especially as they had created the majority of the chances in a tight match, and could twice have won the game had Lee Dong-gook taken two excellent chances, one in the 90th minute and the other just before the end of extra-time.
South Korea started with a surprise line-up, particularly the omission of Lee Dong-gook in a favour of Kim Eun-jong, but also in coach Park Hang-seo's decision to abandon his wingers and instead use Kim Du-hyun in the playmaker role between the strikers and the central midfield partnership of Park Ji-sung and Lee Young-pyo.
The South Koreans created the first real threat in the 11th minute of the match when Kim Du-hyun, following up Ebrahim Mirzapopour's save from a Choi Tae-uk free-kick, smacked the rebound against the far post, but it proved to be a rarity. For the most part defenses controlled the first half.
Park Ji-sung and the terrier-lie Lee Young-pyo were imperious as Korea marginally held sway in midfield, although Ali Badavi did manage to escape Choi Tae-uk once or twice down the Iranian left.
The struggle in the midfield trenches was not for the faint-hearted, nor perhaps for the less hardened football watcher. Needless to say, long before half-time the wave was sweeping around the packed stadium.
After such a tight opening period it was incredible to see the second half open up, and there was a nasty shock for the home fans as Iran had the ball in the net. However as
Javad Kazemeyan's celebrations of his diving header from Alireza Vahedinikbakht's cross were cut short by the linesman's flag.
Within two minutes Kim Eun-jong also came close, flinging himself at a near-post cross from Lee Chun-soo, his first effort on goal in the match and his last. After an hour Park Hang-seo decided he needed the experience of Lee Dong-gook to spearhead his attack.
The match continued in a more expansive vein, as Cho Sung-wan flashed a header from Lee Chun-soo's free-kick past Iranian upright
Iran threatened little however, except for a header from Vahedinikbakht that sailed just over the crossbar with nine minutes remaining.
Lee Dong-gook had one final and fantastic chance to settle the game in the last minute of regulation time, but with just Mirzapour to beat, he pulled his shot disappointingly across the face of goal.
He repeated the feat, although this time he was agonizingly close, with six minutes remaining in extra-time, and the game went into the dreaded penalty shoot-out