South Korea surge past Iraq into final

South Korea stormed into the Asian Cup final with a clinical 2-0 victory over Iraq on Monday, avenging a painful defeat at the same stage eight years ago.

Goals from Lee Jeong-Hyeop and Kim Young-Gwon did the job for the Koreans, who dominated a wet semi-final in Sydney to move a step closer to ending a title drought dating all the way back to 1960.

They face hosts Australia or the United Arab Emirates this weekend in their first final appearance at Asia’s showcase tournament in 27 years.

“We can’t speak anymore about pressure,” South Korea’s coach Uli Stielike told reporters. “We came to Australia as the third-ranked team in Asia and we have achieved all the goals we set. What comes now is extra. We have already taken a big step forward.”

The German insisted that South Korea’s 1-0 win over Australia in the group stage would count for little if, as he predicted, they meet the Socceroos again on Saturday.

“You know what Australia team we played that day,” he sniffed. “(Mile) Jedinak injured, (Tim) Cahill on the bench, (Mathew) Leckie on the bench, (Robbie) Kruse on the bench,” he added as his phone went off.

There was no repeat of Iraq’s shock win over South Korea in 2007, when they won a dramatic penalty shoot-out before completing their fairytale run by beating Saudi Arabia to lift the trophy in Jakarta.