Korea face first real challenge in round of 16 clash with Saudi Arabia

Son Heung-min prepares to shoot a penalty during a Group E match between Jordan and Korea at the AFC Asian Cup in Doha, Qatar on Jan. 20. [XINHUA/YONHAP]

Korea will face Saudi Arabia in the round of 16 at the Asian Cup on Tuesday night, the Taeguk Warriors facing their first real challenge of the tournament after finding every game so far surprisingly challenging.

Korea and Saudi Arabia will face off at Education City Stadium in Qatar on Tuesday, or at 1 a.m. on Wednesday morning in Korea. The winner of that game will advance to face Australia in the quarterfinals.

With two draws and one win in the group stage, the Korean squad and manager Jurgen Klinsmann will need to find a way to turn things around quickly if they want to progress further in the continental tournament.

Klinsmann has what is on paper the most star-studded team Korea has ever had, captained by Tottenham Hotspur captain Son Heung-min with international stars in the form of Wolverhampton Wanderers' Hwang Hee-chan, Paris Saint-Germain’s Lee Kang-in and Bayern Munich’s Kim Min-jae at the center of the roster.

But even as the roll call of European teams continues — Mainz’s Lee Jae-sung, Stuttgart’s Jeong Woo-yeong, Celtic’s Oh Hyeon-gyu and Yang Hyun-jun, Midtjylland’s Cho Gue-sung, Gent’s Hong Hyun-seok, Belgrade’s Hwang In-beom — Korea have proven entirely unable to capitalize on the name value on the pitch.

Reasons for the lack of success are varied.

A lack of tactics — or the wrong tactics — is unavoidably partly to blame, Klinsmann’s predilection with playing Son and Lee Kang-in on the outside leaving nobody in the middle to finish attacks and a lack of ability to adjust to deep man marking causing every attack to peter out before it really starts.

There is also a more chronic problem, Korea’s lack of a strong defense and a proper fullback role hamstringing the team over at least the past decade.

Then there are the injuries, the absence of Hwang Hee-chan until the second half of the last game proving a huge issue and the departure of goalkeeper Kim Seung-gyu who was ruled out with an injury for the remainder of the tournament.

With Hwang Hee-chan now expected back in the squad, Saudi Arabia will provide a crucial chance for Korea to get things back in line.

The head-to-head record between the two countries — five wins, eight draws and five losses — very clearly indicate that historically there has been little to separate the two teams.

The recent history reads a bit differently, however.

Korea has not lost to Saudi Arabia since Aug. 17, 2005, drawing in 2007, 2009 and 2018 and winning in 2008 and in a friendly last year.

At the Asian Cup, however, Korea has never beaten Saudi Arabia, having recorded three draws and one loss.

The upcoming round of 16 match will be the second time Korea face Saudi Arabia in the knockout stage of the Asian Cup, having previously faced the middle eastern side in the 1988 tournament final, which Korea lost on penalties.

The Korean squad at this year’s Asian Cup remains nearly the same as the squad that Klinsmann used during the friendly in September. A noticeable — and potentially critical — absence is regular goalkeeper pick Kim.

The FIFA ranking difference between the two — Korea rank at 23rd and Saudi Arabia at 56th — suggests that Korea is a stronger contender, but rankings have proven to be entirely meaningless so far in the Asian Cup.

Korea drew 2-2 with No. 87 Jordan in a group stage game on Jan. 20 and failed to dominate No. 130 Malaysia on Thursday last week, drawing 3-3.

Saudi Arabia has also been more successful than Korea in Asian Cup history, having won the title three times in 1984, 1988 and 1996.

Korea claimed victory twice in 1960 and 1964, and their best result since then was a runner-up finish in 2015.

A loss in the round of 16 for both sides will mean a disappointing result for the second tournament in a row, as they both failed to shine at the 2019 Asian Cup. Korea crashed out of the quarterfinals after losing to Qatar in 2019, while Saudi Arabia lost to Japan in the round of 16.

BY JIM BULLEY AND PAIK JI-HWAN [jim.bulley@joongang.co.kr]