Moon shines as South Korea set up Qatar clash

South Korea survived a turbulent second-half to hand a gallant Jordan side a 1-0 defeat in the quarter-finals of the AFC U23 Championship yesterday evening and set up a semi-final meeting with tournament hosts Qatar.
Moon Chang-jin scored the only goal of the game midway through the first half as Shin Tae-yong’s side kept alive their nation’s hopes of appearing at a record eighth consecutive Olympic Games.
But the Jordanians will leave the tournament with their heads held high after a battling performance in the second half by Jamal Ahmad’s side that warranted a better result than a defeat in regular time.
Jordan dominated the latter stages, but it had been the Koreans who were in the ascendancy from the first whistle as Shin’s team sought to establish themselves early in the match.
Lee Seul-chan saw his effort from just outside the area deflected wide with only six minutes on the clock, and a minute later he set up Kwon Chang-hoon for a header that the Suwon Bluewings man miss-timed to send wide.
Ahmad Hisham’s speculative effort from long range went some way towards taking the pressure off the Jordanian defence, but it was not long before the Koreans were back in command, with Kwon Chang-hoon beating two defenders before hitting a shot from outside the area that did little to trouble Noureddin Ateyah.
Ryu Seung-woo tried his luck from long range only to see his shot deflected wide while Lee Chang-min’s attempt curled just off target.
Jordan had, only minutes earlier, missed a golden opportunity when Baha Faisal failed to capitalise on a mix-up in the Korean defence, miss-hitting his attempt into an empty goal after goalkeeper Gu Sung-yun was left stranded.
By the 23rd minute, the Koreans had taken the lead their early pressure warranted. The Jordanian defence was unconvincing in dealing with Kwon Chang-hoon’s low curling cross from the left, allowing Ryu Seung-woo to lay the ball off to Moon Chang-jin, who calmly slotted the ball into the bottom corner.Faisal denied the Koreans a second five minutes later when Hwang Hee-chan took aim after Moon Chang-jin’s through ball, only for the goalkeeper to be equal to the task while nine minutes before the break Ehsan Haddad could have levelled for the Jordanians, but his volley found the side netting.
With Jordan needing to score to keep their dream of qualifying for a first-ever appearance at the Olympic Games alive, Ahmad’s team came out with significant intent in the second half, taking charge of proceedings in impressive fashion as the Koreans looked increasingly uncertain.
Haddad fired over the bar while Hisham saw his effort from eight yards out blocked by the Korean defence in the first 15 minutes of the half before Hisham was just off target soon after.
In the 68th minute the Jordanians thought they had levelled when Faisal put the ball beyond Gu Sung-yun, but the effort was ruled out for offside as the Koreans desperately hung on to what was an increasingly narrow lead.
Kwon Chang-hoon almost relieved the pressure at the other end with 10 minutes remaining, curling his attempt from the edge of the area just wide of Ateyah’s right post, and the Koreans hung on to advance to another last four appearance.