S. Korea to face Iran in 5th straight Asian Cup quarterfinals

The national soccer team will face Iran Saturday in the quarterfinals of the Asian Cup in Qatar, having surrendered first place in Group C to Australia by a single goal.

South Korea and Iran will thus play their fifth straight quarterfinals in the tournament dating back to 1996.

South Korea coach Cho Kwang-rae said, “I think it’s better. We’ll avenge our loss in the friendly match (1-0 against Iran) in Seoul in September last year.”

Despite his confidence, Cho might feel uncomfortable since Iran is not an easy team to handle. The Taegeuk Warriors have had a tough time with Team Melli for a long time.

○ Iran: king of the Asian Cup

South Korea is Asia’s most successful team in the World Cup, having played in its seventh consecutive tournament in South Africa last year. In the Asian Cup, however, Iran has no rival.

South Korea won the first two Asian Cups, when only four countries competed, but none between 1956 and 2007. The Taegeuk Warriors were runner-up three times in those 14 tournaments and missed three due to failure to qualify.

In contrast, Iran has played in all Asian Cups since debuting in the event in 1968. The Islamic nation won the 1968, 1972 and 1976 editions and advanced to the semifinals on five other occasions.

Team Melli has failed to advance to the Asian Cup quarterfinals just once.

○ Struggling against Iran

South Korea has had extraordinary relations with Iran at other major events apart from the five quarterfinal showdowns in the Asian Cup. Led by coach Hong Myung-bo, South Korea beat Iran in the third-place game at last year`s Guangzhou Asian Games, rallying from a 3-1 deficit to win 4-3.

The game was considered the best by the Taegeuk Warriors last year.

In 1996, however, Hong was on the South Korean team that was demolished by Iran in the Asian Cup quarterfinals, 6-2, the worst loss of his playing career.

In 2009, Korea played Iran to two draws in regional qualifiers for the South Africa World Cup. Iran failed to qualify, however, but gave the Taegeuk Warriors their only loss under coach Cho in an exhibition game at Seoul World Cup Stadium in September last year.

Iran coach Afshin Ghotbi knows South Korea well. He was technical analyst for the team in the 2002 World Cup and assistant coach in the 2006 tournament and the 2007 Asian Cup.

“Since I love Koreans and Korean players, I want to meet them again in the future,” he said. Because he knows the South Korean team well, however, the Taegeuk Warriors could struggle in Saturday’s game.

○ Uneasy feeling

After his team routed India Tuesday, 4-1, coach Cho said, “It’s good to play Iran in the quarterfinals.” His real intent for saying this, however, seemed quite different from the reasons he gave.

The first reason is that he thinks his team will inevitably face Iran in its quest for the title, and that sooner than later is better. The second reason is that despite the exhibition loss to Iran in Seoul last year, South Korea has markedly improved since and can attack Iran’s weaknesses.

On the India game, Cho singled out Kwak Tae-hwi’s foul that gave India a penalty kick in the first half as his biggest regret in the contest. Had Korea won 4-0, it would have faced a team other than Iran, and perhaps his comments hint at his discomfort over the looming showdown with the three-time Asian champion.

kimsk@donga.com