Coach Baek Ki-tae's U-17 national team advances to the semifinals of the Asian Cup through a penalty shootout after a dramatic equalizer
Coach Baek Ki-tae's U-17 national team advances to the semifinals of the Asian Cup through a penalty shootout after a dramatic equalizer
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The South Korean men's U-17 national football team, led by head coach Baek Ki-tae, advanced to the Asian Cup semifinals by beating Tajikistan in a penalty shootout.
The U-17 national team won 5-3 in a penalty shootout (no overtime according to tournament regulations) after recording 2-2 in 90 minutes with consecutive goals by Chung Hyeon-woong (FC Seoul U18) and Kim Ji-sung (Suwon Samsung U18) in the quarterfinals of the 2025 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-17 Asian Cup against Tajikistan at 2:15 a.m. on the 15th (Korea Standard Time).
South Korea will play host Saudi Arabia in the semifinals at the Ocaz Stadium at 11 p.m. on the 17th to advance to the Asian Cup final. Saudi Arabia defeated Japan in the quarterfinals with a penalty shootout to reach the semifinals. The other semifinal match was played by Uzbekistan and North Korea.
Earlier, South Korea recorded 2-1 (vs Indonesia 0-1 loss, vs Afghanistan 6-0 win, vs Yemen 1-0 win) in the group stage and settled in the quarterfinals as second place in Group C to secure a berth in the World Cup, which is given to the top eight teams in the tournament.
Sixteen countries are participating in the U-17 Asian Cup, which runs from April 3 to April 20. Four teams will be divided into four groups, and the top two teams (eight teams in each group) will advance to the tournament to compete for the title. The tournament will also serve as the Asian qualifying round for the FIFA U-17 World Cup to be held in Qatar in November.
South Korea is aiming to reclaim its top position for the first time in 23 years since its victory in 2002. At the time, South Korea overpowered Yemen and hoisted the trophy after a bloody shootout. In the previous tournament in Thailand in 2023, South Korea finished second after losing to Japan in the final, 0-3.
Coach Baek Ki-tae chose the 4-3-3 formation. Park Seo-joon (Daejeon Hana Citizen U18) targeted the opponent team's goal from the front line, while Kim Ji-hyuk (Seongnam FCU18) and Kim Eun-seong (Daedong Tax High School) were placed on both sides. The midfielders consisted of Kim Ye-gun (Jeonbuk Hyundai U18), Park Byung-chan (Daejeon Hana Citizen U18) and Jin Geon-young (Ansan FCU18). The defense team consisted of Kim Do-yeon (Daejeon Hana Citizen U18), Koo Hyun-bin (Incheon United U18), Jeong Hee-seop (Jeonbuk Hyundai U18), and Lim Ye-chan (Incheon United U18), while the goalie gloves were worn by Park Do-hoon (Daegu FCU18).
South Korea threatened Tajikistan at the start of the game. Kim Ye-gun, who turned to the left side in the second minute of the first half, crossed his left foot into the penalty area. Park Byung-chan took the opportunity at the gate, taking advantage of the opponent's defense's failure to clear it properly, but the shot was blocked by the goalkeeper's decisive save.
He wanted to finish preheating early with his previous shot, but Tajikistan's defense was solid. In response, South Korea aimed for an opportunity to monitor its performance with mid-range shots. Kim Ye-gun's left-footed mid-range shot floated above the net in the 20th minute of the first half, and Park Byung-chan's right-footed mid-range shot hit the goalie's hand and hit the crossbar two minutes later.
When Jung Hee-seop's header and other wave offensive from the corner kick at the end of the first half failed to break the balance, head coach Baek Ki-tae changed the left side by putting Chung Hyeon-woong instead of Kim Ji-hyuk at the same time as he entered the second half.
Starting with Park Byung-chan's shot in the 12th minute of the second half, the mood gradually increased, and Baek once again took out his attack card. In the 21st minute of the second half, he deployed Kim Ji-sung instead of Park Byung-chan and Jang Woo-sik (Bucheon FCU18) instead of Park Seo-joon. As Jang Woo-sik played on the right side, Kim Eun-seong, who was on the right side, moved to the front line.
And he made the right choice. At 22 minutes in the second half, Kim Ji-sung penetrated the right side and sent a sharp cross to the door. Chung Hyeon-woong, who was on the other side, was behind the opponent's defense and quickly dug in and finished to give Korea the lead. It was a collaboration made by Chung Hyeon-woong and Kim Ji-sung, who entered as substitutes.
However, the joy of Korea did not last long. In the 38th minute of the second half, a teammate of Ibra Kim Jo-da hit a cross from the left side, but the missed shot rather led to Nazriev who was at the goal and scored a goal. Two minutes later, Ibra Kim Jo-da scored an upset goal with a powerful right-footed mid-range shot.
South Korea dramatically balanced the game as soon as it was losing until the 7th minute of extra time in the second half. Melikmurodov committed a handball foul in the process of clearing the cross and conceded a penalty, and Kim Ji-sung, who played as a kicker, scored the equalizer with a clean finish.
In accordance with the rules of the competition, which calls for a penalty shootout without extra time in case of a regular draw, the game immediately turned to a penalty shootout. The joy and sorrow were split from the second kicker. While the two teams had one kick each, Kim Ji-sung, 토토사이트 Korea's second kicker, made a kick, while the opponent missed the match thanks to goalkeeper Park Do-hoon's good defense. In the ensuing turn, Kim Eun-sung, Soyoon-woo, and Yoo Young-bin all scored kicks to end the match with a 5-3 victory over the penalty shootout.