South Korea won a gruelling and fluctuating epic 4-2 on penalties against Iran here Sunday to set up an Asian Cup semi-final with Iraq. The shoot-out became the circuit breaker after both teams had played themselves to a standstill over the regulation 90 minutes and 30 minutes' extra time without scoring a goal.
The Koreans held their nerve with their veteran goalkeeper Lee Woon-jae proving the hero when he saved efforts from Mehdi Mahdavikia and Rasoul Khatibi to acclaim from the chanting Korean supporters.
It was the second quarterfinal at the tournament to go to a penalty shootout after Japan knocked out Australia 4-3 on penalties in Hanoi on Saturday. "Clearly I am very, very proud of the boys. It was very hard against strong opposition," said Korea's Dutch coach Pim Verbeek, who singled out their spirit for praise. "Mentally we were very strong. I've never seen a Korea team not play with spirit, that's why it is a pleasure for me to work with them."
While ecstatic, Verbeek knows plenty of hard work remains with just two days to recover from the energy-sapping match before facing Iraq here on Wednesday.
"We have nothing with a semi-final, we must go for the final," he said. It was huge relief for South Korea, who had been beaten twice in their three previous quarter-finals with Iran at the Asian Cup.