This just in, South Korea has clinched third place in the AFC Asian Cup 2011 after defeating Uzbekistan 3-2 in Doha on Friday. The win ensures the Koreans a place at the next Asian Cup to be held in Australia. Japan have already booked their place by qualifying for this year's final to be played on Saturday.
The Koreans started the game without captain Park Ji Sung, who was rested to avoid any possible injury. The Manchester United midfielder, with 100 caps for his country has hinted that he would retire at the end of the tournament to focus on his career at United.
Two young players stepped up and made their mark in Park's absence. Koo Ja-cheol, 21, opened the scoring in the 17th minute with his fifth goal of the tournament. Koo finished off a one-on-one chance but placing the ball past Ignatiy Nesterov.
A brace by 19-year-old Ji Dong-won in the 28th and 39th minute gave the Koreans a seemingly unassailable lead in the first half. The Uzbeks, coming from a 6-0 drubbing by Australia in their semi-final match struggled to match the Koreans until they were awarded a penalty just before half-time.
Alexander Geynrikh scored from the spot to make it 3-1 and reduced the deficit to just one goal in the 53rd minute. However, the Koreans tightened their defence in the second half and the Uzbeks found it difficult to break through. They almost equalized in the 62nd minute but Olim Navkarov was denied by South Korean goalkeeper Jung Sung-ryong.
Ji had a golden opportunity to score a hat-trick and put the game beyond Uzbekistan's reach in the 66th minute but his low shot hit the post and rolled out of play. The Korean defence appeared exhausted after two games that went into extra time, but held on to the end.
South Korean coach Cho Kwang-rae praised his team for playing hard to the end. Cho said, "We played excellent football in the first half but we ran out of gas later and that made things tough for us. But we were able to preserve the lead, and I'd like to give kudos to our players."
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