DUBAI — Kim Jin-su's extra-time header took South Korea past a stubborn Bahrain and into the quarterfinals of the Asian Cup Tuesday as Paulo Bento's side sealed a 2-1 win at Dubai's Rashid Stadium.
The goal, scored in stoppage time of the first period of extra time, earned Korea a barely-deserved win after Bahrain's Mohamed Al-Romaihi had earlier cancelled out Hwang Hee-chan's opener to take the game beyond 90 minutes.
Bento's side will now face Qatar which beat Iraq 1-0 as the Koreans seek to win the title for the first time since 1960. Bassam Hisham Al-Rawi scored the winner for Qatar in the 62nd
"The performance today maybe wasn't so good as it was in the previous games," said Bento.
"What happened was that we made a lot of easy mistakes, easy connections, easy passes and we lost the ball easily.
"Without the pressure of the opponent, the game became worse for us and easy for the opponents.
"We should be more effective in the way that we make our build up."
Victory came despite Korea making a slow start and Miroslav Soukup's Bahrain looked the more likely to break the deadlock.
Mohamed Marhoon's strike from distance flashed just wide of Kim Seung-gyu's goal with only four minutes on the clock and, midway through the half, the Al-Riffa midfielder skied his free kick from a similar distance over the bar.
Korea grew more assertive and scored the opening goal two minutes before halftime, with Tottenham Hotspur forward Son Heung-min heavily involved.
The 27-year-old's incisive ball found Lee Yong and, while his low cross was parried by Sayed Shubbar, the rebound fell to Hwang Hee-chan who made no mistake from eight yards out.
The Koreans continued to press in the opening exchanges of the second half, with Hwang Ui-jo's attempt blocked by Shubbar and Hwang In-beom shooting over from outside the area. Jung Woo-young then had his free kick deflected wide.
Soukup's team was never overawed and, with 20 minutes remaining, Jamal Rashed's curling effort looked destined for the back of the net, only for goalkeeper Kim Seung-gyu to steer the ball wide for a corner.
However, Bahrain was level seven minutes later with Al-Romaihi scoring from close range after Hong Chul had slid in to keep out Mahdi Al-Humaidan's initial goal-bound effort.
Hwang Ui-jo should have won it for Korea three minutes into stoppage time when Waleed Al-Hayam's poor back pass was intercepted by the Gamba Osaka striker, but he slid his shot wide of Shubbar's goal.
Kim Jin-su's bullet header following Lee Yong's deep cross from the right eventually secured the win for Korea, which may have to improve if it is to end its 59-year wait for the title.
Kyrgyztan angry at ref
Football fans in ex-Soviet Kyrgyzstan piled on to social media Tuesday to vent anger at a referee who denied their men's team an unprecedented quarterfinal berth in the AFC Asian Cup.
Chinese referee Fu Ming played a decisive role in deciding the fate of a tie between hosts the United Arab Emirates and tournament debutants Kyrgyzstan when he awarded a controversial extra-time penalty to UAE. — Reuters
