Draw with Japan leaves Korea facing tough quarterfinal

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Draw with Japan leaves Korea facing tough quarterfinal

Lee Geum-min pushes through the Japanese defense during a match between Korea and Japan at the 2022 Women's Asian Cup at Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex in Pune, India on Thursday. [YONHAP]

Lee Geum-min pushes through the Japanese defense during a match between Korea and Japan at the 2022 Women's Asian Cup at Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex in Pune, India on Thursday. [YONHAP]

Korea drew 1-1 with Japan in their final Group C game at the 2022 Women’s Asian Cup on Thursday to advance to the quarterfinals in second place.
 
The draw at Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex in Pune, India allows Japan to top the group on goal difference, outscoring Korea despite both teams having seven points. That leaves Korea with a far more difficult route through the knockout stage, most likely starting with tournament favorites Australia on Sunday.
 
Korea were undone in the very first few seconds of the game on Thursday, with Japan’s Riko Ueki finding the back of the net well before the 1-minute mark. That initial break gave Japan a crucial early lead which Korea struggled to overcome, despite the two sides looking very evenly matched for the rest of the match.
 
The Taeguk Ladies finally tied the score in the 85th minute, when a goalmouth scramble involving about half of the players on the pitch ended when the ball rolled out of a growing scrum and Seo Ji-yeon tapped it over the line.
 
But with Japan’s three goal cushion from an earlier 5-0 win over Myanmar, only a win would have taken Korea up to first place. An injury time run from Tottenham Hotspur’s Cho So-hyun was Korea’s best chance at pulling ahead, but, although her pass found Chelsea’s Ji So-yun in the box, the Japan defense quickly shut down the attack.
 
With only three groups of four teams competing at the Asian Cup, the two best third-place teams will also advance to the quarterfinals. Japan now gets to take on the third-place team from either Group A or B, while Korea will take on the winner of Group B, which is likely to be Australia.
 
The final Group B games will be played later on Thursday, but with Australia leading the group by three points and a whopping 22 goals, the chances of anybody else taking the top spot are extremely small.
 
Korea's performance at the Asian Cup has been led by Ji, with three goals so far. Ji, Korea's all-time top goal scorer across both genders and all competitions, is joined on the national squad by the Taeguk Ladies' two other Women's Super League stars: Cho and Brighton & Hove's Lee Geum-min, Korea's only other goal scorer prior to Thursday’s game.
 
The Taeguk Ladies have also been battling with a Covid-19 outbreak after a number of players and coaches tested positive after landing in India last week. Korea has still been able to field 13 players, the minimum required to continue competing, so the outbreak doesn't appear to have impacted the team too badly.
 
Covid-19 has already claimed one team at the Asian Cup, with host nation India forced to withdraw after they were unable to put together a 13-player squad.
 
Korea will take on the winner of Group B in the quarterfinals at Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, or at 5 p.m. in Korea.

BY JIM BULLEY [jim.bulley@joongang.co.kr]
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