China produced a sensational upset by securing a 1-0 win over Middle East heavyweights Saudi Arabia. Despite heading into the match as massive underdogs, the Chinese dominated the first half of the match, leaving the Saudi counterparts shell-shocked. But that ball-battering must’ve knocked some much needed impetus into them as the Saudis bounced back after the break, playing at a much higher tempo.
They were then handed a golden opportunity to take the lead when Naif Hazazi was brought down inside the box, but the Al Shabab striker fluffed his spot kick straight towards the hands of Wong Dalei in between China’s sticks. That being said, China got their breakthrough on the 80th minute mark, firing his speculative free-kick attempt right into the back of the net, to send the Chinese fans into raptures!
Meanwhile, South Korea cleared their first hurdle in a rather uncomfortable way after working their socks off to claim a 1-0 win over Oman. Ki Seung-yeung was handed the captain’s armband for the first time and the South Koreans did look the better side from kick off, pressuring the Oman midfield in numbers.
Son Heung-min and Koo Ja-cheol in particular, were too troublesome for the Omani defence to deal with, and they eventually went ahead just before the half time whistle. Koo Ja-cheol fired a grounder that was on-target, though Al Habsi parried it away. Cho Young-cheol was in the right position to then tap the rebound into the net and put the South Koreans ahead.
But Oman never made it easy for them and fought back actively after the break. As the game progressed, Oman grew in confidence, knowing that South Korea’s lead was merely a slender one. Moments before the final whistle, they almost restored parity but Imad Al-Hosni’s terrific header was tipped away by South Korea’s Kim Jin-hyeon, giving his team a crucial win on the day.
Uzbekistan also got their Asian Cup campaign off to a winning start, defeating North Korea 1-0 at Stadium Australia in Sydney. Considering that North Korea are the lowest ranked team in the competition, there was massive pressure on the Uzbeks to secure a convincing win on the day, but things didn’t exactly go as they were planned.
Server Djeparov was predictably dictating the entire game through his role in the middle of the park, but the Uzbeks struggled on the final third. In fact, they were limited to shots from distance in the first half, which explains their inability to create legitimate goalscoring opportunities; at least until the second half.
After the break though, they adopted a far more clinical strategy, which inherently led to their maiden goal on the hour’s mark. Djeparov, yet again involved in the Uzbeks attacking ploys, produced a terrific cross into the box, allowing Igor Sergeev to head home and put them ahead in the game. They had two extra opportunities to increase their lead right after that, but wasteful finishing continued to get the better of them.
That being said, North Korea almost pulled off a shock. Pak Kwang Ryong unleashed a header just seconds before the full time whistle and it looked destined to hit the back of the net. Fortunately for the Uzbeks, Ignatiy Nesterov pulled off a sensational save to ensure that they claim valuable 3 points on the day.
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