Jordan shock South Korea to reach first-ever Asian Cup final

Musa Al-Taamari leads unfancied Jordanians to brink of glory
Marc Mayo6 February 2024

Jordan are one game away from winning the Asian Cup for the first time after dumping South Korea out at the semi-final stage with a 2-0 win on Tuesday.

Having never reached the last four of the competition before, they will now face Iran or hosts Qatar in Saturday's final after causing another huge upset in Al-Rayyan.

Heung-min Son had the ball in the net after 19 minutes but the flag went up after he had mistimed his run in behind the Jordan defenders.

VAR rightly overturned a decision to award the Taegeuk Warriors a first-half penalty before Lee Jae-sung hit the post with a header.

But Jordan once again rose above the 64-placed gap between the two teams in their FIFA world ranking, just as they had in a 2-2 draw between these sides in the group stage.

Hussein Ammouta's side went close before the break when Jo Hyeon-woo produced a double save to deny Yazan Al-Naimat in a quick breakaway.

South Korea approached the second half with confidence but found themselves a goal down when Park Yong-woo's sloppy pass in his own half sent the dangerous duo of Musa Al-Taamari and Al-Naimat clear. Montpellier forward Al-Taamari played his teammate into the box for a calm dinked finish to put Jordan ahead.

Cho Gue-sung headed over with the goal gaping for Korea before Jordan doubled their lead. Once again, Al-Taamari was the creator and this time the executor as he helped win possession before marauding forward on the counter, skipping around Hwang In-beom and burying his effort into the bottom corner from 20 yards.

The final whistle condemned Jurgen Klinsmann's South Korea to an extended wait for a second Asian Cup crown, which will tick to 67 years by the time of the next finals in Saudi Arabia.

Tottenham fans will be happy to see captain Son sit out the final however, with the club hoping he can be back in the squad for Saturday's visit of Brighton.

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