Time for South Korea to end Asian drought

Korean national football team striker Son Heung-min, front left, arrives at Hamad International Airport in Doha, Wednesday in this photo provided by the Korea Football Association (KFA). Yonhap

The 64-year wait may soon be over. The last time the Asian Cup was lifted by South Korean hands was way back in 1960 when there were just four teams involved in the competition. The Taeguk Warriors beat them all – South Vietnam, Israel and the Republic of China, representing Taiwan – in Hyochang Park, the stadium not far from downtown Seoul built especially for the tournament.

Much has changed since. Four teams have now become 24, and the one 15,000-seater stadium in the Seoul district of Yongsan has become nine venues in Qatar with a combined capacity of over 400,000. Korea has gone on to become the most successful Asian nation in terms of World Cup performances and it seems strange then that there has not been a third Asian Cup success.

There is no time like the present and this is a strong Korean team that has been placed in Group E – the top two from each of the six groups and the best four performing third-placed teams will progress to the Round of 16 when the ties become elimination matches. Korea's campaign will kick off on Monday against Bahrain before facing Jordan and then Malaysia. Anything less than first place would be a huge surprise but then the real tests will begin.

Korea arrives in Qatar with the strongest roster it has had for some time and it is a team that is more than capable of winning. It is a team that is feared by the world-famous stars such as Son Heung-min, Lee Kang-in, Hwang Hee-chan and Kim Min-jae. Korea is not the favorite, however.

That is Japan, ranked six places higher at 17 in the world. Korea has won the last six games without conceding a goal but the level of opposition has not been the highest: China, Singapore, Tunisia and Vietnam. Japan has won the last 10, including a 4-1 win over Germany in Germany in September, scoring 45 goals.

If the win in Wolfsburg was impressive, the last three games have been ominous. There were 5-0 wins over Syria and Thailand and then, last week, a 6-1 thrashing of Jordan. All three are solid Asian teams and all three are at the tournament and all expect to get into the Round of 16 yet Japan defeated them with barely breaking a sweat.

The other expected contenders include Iran, another of Korea’s big continental rivals. They possess talented striker Mehdi Taremi, perhaps Asia’s best forward after Son Heung-min, scoring lots for FC Porto in Portugal and also in the UEFA Champions League. Sardar Azmoun plays for Roma and midfielder Saman Ghoddos has impressed in the English Premier League for Brentford. Australia, who beat Korea in the final of the 2015 Asian Cup, is always hard to beat while Saudi Arabia has the wily Italian coach Roberto Mancini in charge.

Defending champion and host Qatar is not expected to repeat its 2019 success when it defeated Korea and then Japan along the way. Central Asian power Uzbekistan has yet to achieve its potential while Paulo Bento, who took Korea to the second round of the 2022 World Cup, is now in charge of the United Arab Emirates.

It is surely time for South Korea however.