KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia -- Captain Lee Woon-jae made two crucial saves in the shootout Sunday and South Korea advanced to the Asian Cup semifinals with a win on penalties over Iran.
After a scoreless 120 minutes, including two periods of extra time, Kim Jung-woo sealed the Koreans a 4-2 win in the shootout and a place in the next round against Iraq.
It was the second of three quarterfinals so far decided on penalties. Defending champion Japan edged Australia 4-3 on penalties Saturday night after their match was locked 1-1 after extra time.
Iraq, which is traveling to Kuala Lumpur for Wednesday's semifinal, beat surprise quarterfinalist Vietnam 2-0 in Bangkok on Saturday night.
Veteran goalkeeper Lee, who helped South Korea into the 2002 World Cup semifinals via a shootout win over Spain in the quarterfinals, was at his agile best against the spot kicks.
"I'm really happy we won, of course, but we have to forget that now and start preparations for the Iraq match," said Lee, who needed treatment on his left ankle after making his second save in the shootout. "All the teams are desperate to get to Jakarta and to win the Asian Cup."
South Korea coach Pim Verbeek said it was no coincidence his young side had reproduced some of the excitement of the 2002 World Cup. He was one of Guus Hiddink's assistant coaches in '02.
"The spirit of 2002 ? I never have seen a Korean side that does not play with that spirit," he said. "It's one of the qualities of Korean football.
"I'm proud of the boys, obviously, but we still have (achieved) nothing here. We have to play the semifinal ? we have to go for the final and the Cup."
South Korea ? which finished second behind Saudi Arabia in Group D after a surprise loss to Bahrain ? and Iran have five continental championships between them and were meeting in a quarterfinal for the fourth consecutive Asian Cup.
They're now 2-2 in quarterfinals.
The South Koreans won back-to-back titles in the first two tournaments but have not added one since 1960 ? reaching the final for the last time in 1988.
Iran has not reached the final since winning its third consecutive title in 1976.
Both teams created chances in soggy conditions after torrential afternoon storms soaked Bukit Jalil National Stadium, with Ali Karimi and Mehdi Mahdavikia creating the best opportunities for Iran.
Javad Nekounam went within an inch of giving Iran a lead at the end of the first period of extra time when his right-foot drive from the top of the area shaved the outside of the left post.
And Lee saved a long-range strike from his Iranian counterpart Mahdavikia two minutes into the last period to keep it scoreless.
It was Lee's save against Mahdavikia to keep South Korea's 2-1 lead in the shootout which swung the balance in his team's favor.
Iran's substitute goalkeeper Vahid Taleblou ? sent in with about one minute to play in extra time ? saved the next spot kick to keep the margin at 2-1 but Lee made another save on Rasoul Khatabi's effort with the tally at 3-2 to set up the win.
Kim calmly finished it off.
Iran coach Amir Ghalenoei said he took full responsibility for the loss, adding that he though his experienced lineup had the better of the match.
"I think we dominated the match. We had a lot of goal chances and we were good tactically," Ghalenoei said. "We didn't take our chances and the shootout comes down to luck ? and we didn't have the luck."
(AP)