(MENAFN- The Peninsula)
#Asian Cup Qatar 2023 The Peninsula
Doha, Qatar: Jordan will take on South Korea in the first of the AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023 semi-finals today.
It promises to be a thriller with Jordan chasing a first ever appearance in the final while South Korea are seeking a third title, having won the first two editions of the continental showpiece.
Group Stage
Both teams kicked off their campaigns in Group E, with South Korea easily seeing off Bahrain 3-1 while Jordan were unstoppable in a 4-0 win over Malaysia.
The two squared off on Matchday Two and what a thriller the match turned out to be, with Son Heung-min giving South Korea a ninth minute lead.
Park Yong-woo's own goal, however, drew Jordan level and it got better for the West Asian side deep into first half added time with Yazan Al Naimat's effort taking them into the break ahead.
Victory, however, would prove to be elusive as Yazan Al Arab's own goal in second half added time salvaged South Korea a share of the points.
South Korea's Hwang Hee-chan (right) celebrates with a teammate after scoring their opening goal against Australia.
Both teams went into Matchday Three with the Group E top spot at stake, with Bahrain also very much in the running.
With both matches kicking off simultaneously, it was high octane excitement till the very end with Jordan suffering a 1-0 defeat to Bahrain while South Korea settled for a 3-3 draw with Malaysia, with the Southeast Asian side scoring the equaliser deep into added time.
The final outcome was Bahrain topping the group, South Korea second and Jordan advancing to the Round of 16 as one of the four best third placed teams.
Round of 16
Iraq 2-3 Jordan
Jordan showed amazing resilience to come from behind to defeat Iraq 3-2 in their Round of 16 tie.
Trailing after having taken the lead, second half stoppage time goals from Yazan Al Arab and Nizar Al Rashdan pushed Jordan over the finishing line in a hugely exciting tie that had seen Iraq reduced to 10 players after having nudged 2-1 ahead, with Aymen Hussein sent off after netting their second goal.
Jordan's players celebrate their team's second goal during their Round of 16 match against Iraq.
Yazan Al Naimat had given Jordan the lead in first half stoppage time, with Suad Natiq scoring in the 68th minute to draw Iraq level.
Hussein put Iraq ahead in the 76th minute before picking up a second yellow card with Jordan scoring in the 90+5 and 90+7 minutes to book their quarter-final spot.
Saudi Arabia 1 (2-4)
1 South Korea
Goalkeeper Jo Hyeon-woo was the hero as South Korea progressed to the quarter-finals with a 4-2 penalty shoot-out win over Saudi Arabia after the teams shared a 1-1 draw at the end of extra-time.
Jo saved attempts from Sami Al Naji and Abdulrahman Ghareeb in the third and fourth rounds of spot-kicks to leave Hwang Hee-chan to smash the winning penalty into the top corner.
Saudi Arabia's Ali Lajami (left) fights for the ball with South Korea's Son Heung-min. AFP
The game went to penalties after Abdullah Radif had given the Saudi Arabians the lead less than a minute into the second half but Cho Gue-sung levelled nine minutes into injury time with a header to take proceedings into extra-time as Korean desperation to equalise paid off.
With an additional 30 minutes unable to separate the teams, Hwang hit the decisive penalty after Jo's pair of saves to take South Korea into the quarter-finals.
Quarter-finals
Tajikistan 0-1 Jordan
An own goal sent Jordan to the AFC Asian Cup semi-finals for the first time in their history, the West Asian side defeating debutants Tajikistan 1-0 in a tough last eight tie.
Jordan's players celebrate after Abdallah Nasib's header deflected off Tajikistan's Vahdat Hanonov into the latter's own net during their quarter-final match.
Jordan just shaded a tight first half which saw limited opportunities for both sides but that changed in the 66th minute when defender Abdullah Nasib rose highest to head Ehsan Haddad's delivery from a corner, with his effort bouncing off Tajik defender Vahdat Hanonov before settling in the back of the net for what proved to be the goal that took Jordan into the semi-finals for the first time.
Australia 1-2 South Korea (AET)
Son Heung-min dragged South Korea into the semi-finals, winning an injury time penalty and scoring a stunning extra-time free-kick to earn his nation a 2-1 come-from-behind victory over Australia.
The Tottenham Hotspur forward hauled the Taegeuk Warriors back into the game after Craig Goodwin had given the Australians a 42nd minute lead with a close-range volley, with Hwang Hee-chan equalising from the penalty spot in the fifth minute of second half stoppage time.
The Tottenham Hotspur star then delivered the killer blow when, after Hwang had been brought down on the edge of the area in the 104th minute, he struck his right-foot shot over the wall and beyond Ryan to spark scenes of jubilation at Al Janoub Stadium.
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