Jordan, the 87th team in the FIFA ranking, will play in the Asian Cup final. It was a major surprise for Jordan, who almost easily got rid of a South Korea that was shipwrecked once again in the assault on the title of best Asian team. National holiday in Jordan, a country with eleven million inhabitants that arrived in Qatar like a true Cinderella and now, no matter what happens in the grand final on Saturday, it has triumphed. Nobody was betting on them but there they are. One breath away from success.
And South Korea, another disappointment. It was their time and they fell back into the mistakes of the past. Heung-Min Son, Kang-In Lee and company were tied up throughout the match by the Jordanian web organized by the experienced Moroccan coach Hussein Ammouta. From the revelry in the streets of Amman to the exacerbated disillusionment of Seoul. South Korea will continue its spell in the tournament: 63 years of drought and at least another four years of depression left. Jordan was so superior that they didn’t even have to pull off an epic like in the round of 16 against Iraq (two goals in added time). South Korea was a disaster that barely threatened a Jordan that protected itself tooth and nail and made the counter-coup its best weapon… and what a weapon.
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Jordan celebrates one of the goals. GIUSEPPE CACACEAFP
Striker Al Naimat overtook Jurgen Klismann’s team with his goal in the 53rd minute. A blow from which South Korea could not recover. He had neither the strength nor the arguments to react. Jordan’s 1-0 lead brought down the Korean house of cards that definitively kissed the canvas with the second goal, the work of Montpeiller’s talent Mousa Al Tamari (66′). Two names that will be included on the silkscreen of Jordan’s immortal heroes starting this Tuesday. Iran or Qatar will be the rivals of a Jordan that once it has arrived here wants to leave through the front door. It is their best historical result ever.
Relief for PSG and Bayern
Every cloud has a silver lining. That’s what Luis Enrique and Thomas Tuchel must think. South Korea’s unexpected defeat in the semifinals will force Kang-in Lee and Kim Min-jae to return to their teams. Good news, in quotes, for PSG and Bayern Munich, who are recovering troops ahead of the weekend’s matches and the restart of the Champions League.
Tuchel breathes a sigh of relief as he will be able to count on the South Korean centre-back in the anticipated Bundesliga ‘final’ against Bayer Leverkusen this Saturday and even more so when he has a pressing plague of injuries in the defensive zone.