Son Heung-min returns, Lee Gang-in makes a contribution, South Korea 4-0 Kuwait, unbeaten and advanced to the top

In this window of international competitions, the World Cup qualifiers Asian quarterfinals ushered in the last two rounds of competition. The South Korean team, which ranked 23rd in the third world in Asia, defeated Iraq in the penultimate round of the away game, locked a ticket to the US, Canada and Mexico World Cup one round ahead of schedule, and entered the World Cup 11 consecutive times.

In the last round of group stage, the South Korean team returned to home court and faced Kuwait, the weakest group strength. In this game, the Asian No. 1 Son Heung-min returned and came on as a substitute in the 74th minute, but he failed to score. However, the South Korean team still relied on the four arrows of Jun Jin-tae, Lee Gang-in, Wu Xiankui and Lee Jae-chung to beat Kuwait 4-0 at home, completing the five consecutive strikes against the latter in the World Championship, ending the journey of this World Cup qualifier!

[Match Highlights]

Kuwait currently has only 134th place in the world, which is more than 100 places lower than the South Korean team. It can be seen that both sides are not at the same level at all. After the first nine rounds of the group stage, Kuwait draws 5 and loses 4, which is the only team in the group that has never tasted the taste of victory, including losing 1-3 to South Korea at home. This is also the reason why fans were optimistic about Tai Chi Tigers winning their opponents at home before the game.

Faced with Kuwait, who lost to his feet in the last four confrontations, the South Korean team gave more opportunities for young players to train through actual combat. Son Heung-min and Huang Hee-chan, two main players who played in the Premier League, were on standby on the bench, and Lee Gang-in, who followed Paris Saint-Grand to win the Champions League championship this season, became the absolute core of the team's starting lineup.

[Match Review] After the game started, the South Korean team launched a tide attack towards Kuwait's goal amid the deafening cheers of fans at home. In the 11th minute of the first half, they almost broke the balance. Pei Junhao received a cross from the side of the teammate in the penalty area and headed the goal to hit the diagonal. Unfortunately, the ball hit the post and was bounced out, missing a good opportunity to score. In the 19th minute, Pei Junhao showed his power again. After shaking off the defensive player from the left, he shot directly into the far corner, but was saved by the Kuwait goalkeeper. The Korean team, which was constantly attacking, broke the balance on the court in the 30th minute. After the left corner kick was taken, Quan Jin headed the ball, and the ball hit the defensive player and shot into the net. Tai Chi Hu also returned to the midfield locker room with a 1-0 lead as he wished. After returning to the arena, the South Korean team still conducted half-court offensive and defensive drills at the forefront of Kuwait’s penalty area. In the 51st minute, Li Gangren stepped forward from the left, and Pei Junhao understood and sent a straight pass. After Li Gangren made a slight adjustment, he directly shot and pierced through Kuwait’s goal again, helping the South Korean team expand its lead to 2 goals.

The Tai Chi Tiger, who became more and more brave, further expanded his lead in the 54th minute. After receiving a cross from the right of his teammate, Pei Junhao sent the ball back to Wu Xiankui, who had a better position. The latter scored a low shot and helped the South Korean team rewrite the score to 3-0. Wu Xiankui had the opportunity to continue rewriting the score in the 56th minute, but unfortunately his shot hit the far post and was bounced out, missing a good opportunity to score twice. Lee Jae-cheng, who had just made a debut in the 72nd minute, scored and frozen the score to 4-0.

After easily defeating Kuwait at home, the South Korean team also used a victory to put a perfect end to the quarterfinals of this World Cup. It won 6 wins and 4 draws in ten rounds, which also made Tai Chi Tiger the only team that remained unbeaten in the quarterfinals.