IRAQ reached its first Asian Cup final last night, beating South Korea 4-3 on penalties in a pulsating semifinal that ended goalless after extra time.
Noor Sabri was Iraq’s hero when he saved South Korea’s fourth spot-kick from Yeom Ki-hun. After Ahmed Menajed had made it 4-3 to the West Asians, South Korean Kim Jung-woo hit the post to send the Iraqi players into raptures.
It was the vanquished side’s second penalty shootout in four days, having overcome Iran 4-2 in Sunday’s quarterfinal after another goalless 120 minutes.
Pim Verbeek’s players produced their performance of the tournament against Iraq, but again their three-man attack failed to produce a goal for the second straight match.
Showing brilliant individual skills, Iraq dominated the first half but South Korea hit back strongly after the break, though the side wasted several chances to knock Iraq out of its stride.
Despite weary legs tiring further on a sodden pitch, both sides continued to work hard in extra time and their willingness to attack resulted in tense goalmouth action at both ends.
Iraq had a great chance to snatch it in the 104th minute when Hawar Mulla Mohammed found himself in front of an open goal but his shot crashed against the inside of Lee Woon-jae’s right-hand post before being cleared.
After 120 minutes of attacking soccer had failed to produce a goal, the teams were ushered to the penalty spot for the shootout. (SD-Agencies)