All Wrapped Up – From The Stands Asian Cup – Day 5 Review

Matchday 5 featured the beginning of the second round of fixtures. A vocal crowd was on hand in Canberra for the first match while the second was played in front of decent crowd but a suppressed atmosphere.

 

Game 1 Final Result:

South Korea 1 (Nam 36) Kuwait 0.

 

South Korean manager Uli Stielike rafted in the changes from their opening match. In total, seven changes were made from the side that beat Oman 1-0.

 

Some were forced, Bolton Wanderers midfielder Lee Chung-yong was ruled out after sustaining a leg fracture in their first match. Defender Kim Chang-soo was also still suffering from a knock he had picked up in the opening match.

 

Lee Keun-ho could have opened scoring after half an hour when he was put through on goal by a pass from Kim Min-woo. Lee opted for a dink but it was well tipped round for a corner by Kuwait goalkeeper Hameed Youssef.

 

Soon enough, South Korea had their breakthrough with midfielder Nam Tae-hee connected with a inch-perfect cross from the Cha Du-ri to bury a header past Youssef, sending the South Korean fans crazy.

 

The Kuwaitis started the second half strong and nearly equalised with winger Ali Almaqseed driving a long range effort against the post.

 

The last half hour was end to end as the midfielders started to tire. Both sides had opportunities with Lee having a header go just wide and Fahed Al Ebrahim had his shoot knocked wide.

 

In the end the match finished 1-0 with the Taeguk Warriors achieving a perfect six points for the tournament which secures their progression to the quarter finals.

 

Crowd: 8,795

 

While the numbers weren’t astounding the vocal support for both sides but especially South Korea made for a good atmosphere. Hopefully there is more to come from the nations capital.

 

FTS Man of the match: Cha Du-ri. It was a strong display from the FC Seoul fullback who at the age of 34 is likely to be competing in his last international tournament. It was his marauding run and cross the led to the only goal of the match.

 

Game 2 Final Result

Australia 4 (McKay 27, Kruse 30, Milligan 45, Juric 70) Oman 0

 

Ange Postecoglou troops made light work of Oman to claim their second win of the tournament. The four goals pushes the goal tally for Australia to an impressive eight however much more was expected from a disappointing Oman.

Postecoglou made three changes from the tournament opener, bringing in Milligan, McKay and Jason Davidson for Mile Jedinak, James Troisi and Aziz Behich.

 

It is becoming increasingly clear that the Socceroos are more comfortable and confident with Postecoglou’s style. They dominated Oman and were relentless in the first half with their knockout all but secured on the half hour mark.

 

Matt McKay got on the end of a Trent Sainsbury header from a Massimo Luongo corner after 27 minutes before Robbie Kruse was put through by Luongo on the half hour mark. Kruse composed himself and nutmegged a hapless Ali Al-Habsi who had a below par showing

 

Approaching half time Mark Milligan finished of a scramble in the box only for referee Sato to call for a penalty. The Melbourne Victory captain stepped up in the absence of Mile Jedinak to put the Socceroos 3-0 up.

 

The only goal of the second period came in the 70th minute when Matthew Leckie hit a cross in with the outside of his right boot which found Tomi Juric sliding in at the back post to round out the result.

 

The only threat from Oman was an early shot from Raed Saleh which forced Mat Ryan to pull off an incredible full length save.

 

This result means a draw is all Australia need against South Korea to finish top of Group A while Oman’s match against Kuwait is rendered to nothing more than an international kickabout.

 

Crowd: 50,276

 

The biggest of the tournament but far from the most impressive. Over 30000 empty seats and a crowd that were very expectant and lacking the desire to create any real atmosphere. Maybe knockout football will get Sydney fans off their feet.

 

FTS Man of the match: Luongo. Backed up his man of the match display against Kuwait with an even more impressive performance that included the corner that led to the first goal and the final pass for Kruse’s goal. Surely clubs will be keen to get in on the 22-year-old Swindon Town maestro.

 

Australia                 2                 6              +7

South Korea          2                 6              +2

Kuwait                     2                 0               -4

Oman                       2                 0               -5

 

Asian Cup 2015 Attendance Running Total: 168,701

 

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