Son moves on as Uruguay are ruled out by late win over South Korea

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  • Rob DawsonReporter

Education City, Qatar — South Korea grabbed the 91st minute winner against portugal to qualify as runners-up from Group H in the most dramatic circumstances.

substitute hwang hee-chan South Korea got crucial goal to send off despite scoring Uruguay2-0 win Ghana In the other game of the group (Korea and Uruguay both finished level on four points and zero goal difference, but Korea scored four goals compared to Uruguay’s two.)

Portugal took an early lead Ricardo Horta before this kim young-gwonequalizer of. This set up a frantic second half with South Korea knowing they needed just one more goal to seal progress, but looking as though they would collapse at first. Son Hyung-min Hwang broke free on the counter-attack with minutes remaining to set up. And with four of South Korea’s last seven goals in the World Cup being scored in the 90th minute or later, you can’t say it wasn’t on the cards.

After the full-time whistle saw the final minutes of Uruguay’s game on the pitch, South Korea could finally celebrate a famous victory as it cemented Asia’s third-place finish in the round of 16 – the longest ever in a single world cup. cup.

jump to: player ratings , Best/Worst Performers , Highlights and Notable Moments , postmatch quotes , key figures , upcoming fixtures

– World Cup 2022: News and Features , Schedule
– FIFA Panel: Tactics of “genius” Ronaldo earned questionable PK vs PK. Ghana

Swift response

1. Son steps up when it counts

Son Hyung-min It has sometimes been alleged that he tries to do too much of himself when he plays. South Korea But when they needed him the most, the Tottenham forward stepped up.

The fourth official held up the board to show the stoppage time of six minutes, followed by Son the length of the pitch. portugal Corner to set up substitute Hwang. The Wolves forward’s finish was about as composed as you could get in the conditions, but it was made up for by Son’s quality, before delicately rolling past Portugal defenders through his legs First delayed and attracted towards him. diogo dalot To give your team mate full chance to score.

Around 90 minutes in, South Korea looked to be on the way out – a result that would likely cost Portuguese coach Paulo Bento his job – but instead they went through on goals conceded and just their third World Cup knockout in their history. preparing for a tie, probably against Brazil,

South Korea were beaten 5-1 by Brazil in June, which raised alarm bells ahead of the World Cup, but having finished the group stage on such a high, they would believe anything could happen, especially when When they have a player like Son capable of doing that. Magic moments.

2. Portugal is an enigma

portugal A star-studded squad but their performance in the knockout rounds will be unpredictable. There have been wonderful football moments – especially bruno fernandes‘ assists against two cunning Ghana In the first game – but there has also been some calamitous defending.

Both goals against Ghana were avoidable and South Koreahere comes the first of a set piece that hit Cristiano Ronaldo On the back The second was a counter-attack when his own corner left himself wide open at the back.

Despite their defeat, Portugal still topped Group H and will look to take their chances against Switzerland, Serbia either cameroon into the next round, but there won’t be too many positives about a possible quarterfinal tie spain if they pass.

Portugal has the individual ability to compete with any team Queue But the question is whether coach Fernando Santo can bring this into a functional team that is good enough to win the biggest games in the knockout rounds of major tournaments. They could have easily made it to the semi-finals or beyond but also looked capable of crashing at any moment.

3. Why was Ronaldo playing?

Portugal knew they were before kick off and santos took the opportunity to rest almost all their key players including reuben dias, Bernardo Silva, Joao Felix and Fernandes. Ronaldo was the only exception, starting despite being rated as “50–50” by Santos because of his foot injury. Uruguay,

You could argue that with a stop-start season manchester unitedRonaldo needs games to find his match intensity ahead of the knockout rounds, but it was still strange to see him out with Portugal’s second leg down.

His important contribution during 65 minutes on the pitch South Koreagoal when a corner hit his back and fell kim young-gwonwho carried the ball diogo costa, he had a clear chance header when vitinhaK’s shot was blocked back in the penalty area by the South Korean goalkeeper. kim seung-gyu But the 37-year-old could only put it wide, while his 11 carries were the fewest on his Portugal debut since 2016 vs Portugal. France When he only played 25 minutes.

When Ronaldo saw that his number had been reduced, the fans, who appeared in despair, gave their usual standing ovation from the fans who came to Education City to see him, but when he was on the pitch to cheer him on. There was nothing special for him.

player ratings

portugal, diogo costa 6, diogo dalot 8, joao cancelo 7, pepe 6, Antonio Silva 6, ruben neves 6, joao mario 6, matheus nunes 6, vitinha 7, Ricardo Horta 7, Cristiano Ronaldo 5.

later stages, joao palhinha 6, rafael leo 6, Andre Silva 6, Bernardo Silva 6, William Carvalho 6.

South Korea, kim seung-gyu 7, kim jin-su 6, kim moon-hwan 7, kim young-gwon 7, kwon kyung-won 6, jung woo-young 7, hwang in-beom 7, lee kang-in 7, Son Hyung-min 9, cho gue-sung 7, lee jae-sung 6.

later stages, hwang hee-chan 8, hwang ui-jo 7, son jun-ho 7, cho yu-min 7.

best and worst performers

Best: Son Hyung-min

The South Korean star had the calmness and quality to help win the game at a high-pressure moment.

Worst: Cristiano Ronaldo

Played a role in South Korea’s goal when he turned his back on a corner and did nothing else.

Highlights and Notable Moments

Portugal took the lead early on but it was not Cristiano Ronaldo, it was Ricardo Horta.

Ronaldo then got involved at the wrong end, the ball bouncing over his head from a corner before Kim Young-gwan was ready to equalise.

Incredibly, with only a few minutes remaining, and South Korea needing a goal to take the lead, Hwang Hee-chan completed it.

After the match: What the players and managers said

Portugal coach Fernando Santos: “Things didn’t go well and the responsibility is mine, obviously. The team saw a lot of ups and downs in the second half. In the first half we didn’t allow them to counterattack, but in the second half the ball moved slower. , very personal. It It already happened with Serbia and the players know perfectly well that this cannot happen, they warn more about it.It cannot happen.

“Morale was high and it will shake a bit, which is normal, but on the other hand it will be a call to reason. This group is very focused and will understand it more from that point of view, we have to stay as we have been till now. We Can never slow down, any opponent is too dangerous in the World Cup. Cristiano Ronaldo (pitch when substituted) got upset because a Korean player was sending him away and Pepe also had to intervene.”

South Korea assistant coach Sergio Costa: “We are very happy, we deserved it for what we did in the three games. The result with Ghana was very unfair, with Uruguay we competed in the best possible way and against a great team like Portugal, personal Loaded with talent, organized and capable, we managed to execute our game plan and achieve what was an intrinsic objective of ours. We dedicate this victory to all the South Korean people who support us so much. We Get some rest and we’ll see our potential opponents tonight. Then, like all games, we’ll approach it that way. Knowing the strengths, weaknesses, adjusting to your strengths and creating a gameplan.

Key Stats (Provided by ESPN Stats & Info)

– Ricardo Horta scored Portugal’s 6th World Cup goal in the 5th minute or so – tied for third most goals of all time with Brazil.

His goal was the fifth straight World Cup goal scored by players other than Cristiano Ronaldo, the most without Ronaldo following a nine-straight streak between the 2006 and 2010 World Cups.

– Prior to the game, Portugal was unbeaten (15-0-3 WLD) when scoring first in the World Cup.

Kim Young-gwon became the 10th individual South Korean player to score two or more goals in World Cup history. He is also the oldest South Korean player (32) to score at the World Cup since Hwang Sun-hong (33) vs Poland in 2002.

– Hwang Hee-chan (90’+1) scored South Korea’s sixth stoppage-time regulation goal in World Cup history. Three of them were in the 2018 World Cup.

Four of South Korea’s last seven World Cup goals have come in the 90th minute or later.

– Hwang Hee-chan’s goal was South Korea’s second game-winning stoppage-time goal in World Cup history (also vs Germany in 2018).

– 3 Asian countries have reached the round of 16 – the most times in a single World Cup.

next

Portugal: A round-of-16 game against the runner-up in Group G – Switzerland, Serbia or Cameroon – awaits at the Lusail Iconic Stadium on December 6 at 10pm / 2pm local time.

South Korea: Incredibly, against all odds, they have a game against Brazil on December 5 at Stadium 974, Doha at 10 p.m. local time / 2 p.m. ET.





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