Group D News
Korea and Saudi Arabia share draw
Jul 11, 2007
PA Sport
JAKARTA Saudi Arabia captain Yasser Al Qahtani scored from the
penalty spot 13 minutes from time to earn his side a 1-1 draw with
Korea Republic in their opening AFC Asian Cup encounter on
Wednesday evening.
The Al Hilal hit man struck after Australian referee Mark Shield
awarded a debatable penalty when Malek Maaz was adjudged to have
been fouled by Oh Beom-seok, cancelling out Choi Sung-kuks 66th
minute opener.
Choi had beaten Saudi defender Kamil Al Mousa to Yeom Ki-huns
cross from the left before heading beyond Yasser Al Mosailem to
give the 2002 World Cup semi-finalists the lead.
But the game was marred when, five minutes from time, a power
failure in the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium saw play stopped for
almost 25 minutes before what was left of the game was played
out.
It was a chaotic end to a game that had started with the Saudis
giving the Korean defence a major fright with less than a minute on
the clock.
Malek Maazs pace saw him sear down the left before firing in a
cross that was the perfect height for Al Qahtani, but the Al Hilal
man could only glance his header across the face of goal.
That was an early wake-up call for the Koreans and from there the
half became an intriguing midfield battle.
Choi had a lively start with his speed and trickery keeping the
Saudi defence on their toes while at the other end a break through
midfield by Ahmed Al Mousa in the 25th minute set up Maaz, but his
shot was bundled round the post by Lee Woon-jae.
Cho Jae-jin threatened with a header two minutes later before
almost claiming he spectacular opener three minutes ahead of the
break when his overhead attempt following Oh Beom-seoks cross was
tipped over the bar by Al Mosailem.
With barely seconds left in the half Al Mosailem was called into
action again when Kim Chi-woo fired in a low shot which bounced in
front of the Al Ahli goalkeeper, who used his legs to clear.
Maaz continued to look the Saudi most likely to score in the second
half when, seven minutes after the restart he capitalised on an
error by Oh to take possession 35 yards from goal, only to fire off
a shot that went just wide.
Cho saw his header from Yeoms free kick go just wide six minutes
later before Choi gave the Koreans the lead in the 66th
minute.
Al Mousa was caught ball watching as Yeoms centre came in from the
left and the Seongnam Ilhwa man crashed his header beyond the reach
of Al Mosailem.
The goal was Chois last contribution to the game as he made way
for Lee Chun-soo immediately after the restart, but it took the
Saudis only 11 minutes to pull level.
Maaz was confronted by Oh just inside the penalty area and, as he
tried to go round the Pohang Steelers midfielder, the Al Ahli man
went to the ground and Shield pointed to the spot.
From there, Al Qahtani who had been virtually anonymous
throughout the game sent Lee the wrong way to earn the Saudis a
point before the stadium was plunged into darkness.
When the game resumed, Saad Al Harthi fired off a long-range
attempt in the first minute of injury that Lee did well do save
while seconds later he had another chance to win the game for
Saudi, only to hit the side netting.
