Doha, Jan. 28: South Korea bowed out of the Asian Cup in style by edging Uzbekistan 3-2 in an entertaining third-place play-off on Friday to secure an automatic place at the 2015 tournament in Australia.
Cho Kwang-Rae’s men looked on course for a handsome victory at 3-0 up in the first-half, but Uzbekistan clawed back the deficit to salvage some pride after their 6-0 drubbing by Australia in the semifinals.
Koo Ja-Cheol’s fifth goal of the competition, making him outright top scorer, set South Korea on their way, before Ji Dong-Won claimed a brace with a pair of artfully constructed strikes.
Goals either side of half-time from Alexander Geynrikh brought the Uzbeks back into the game, but Korea held on to claim third place at the continental showpiece for the third time in four tournaments.
Koo broke the deadlock in the 17th minute at the Al-Sadd Stadium, calmly beating Uzbek goalkeeper Ignatiy Nesterov after Lee Yong-Rae had launched a barrelling one-man counter-attack from deep inside the Korean half.
Korea’s football has received plenty of plaudits during the tournament and Ji’s first goal in the 28th minute was a fine example of their craft. A slick exchange involving Young-Pyo, Sung-Yueng, Chung-Yong and Koo culminated in Ji receiving the ball in space inside the penalty area, and he promptly netted the ball.