Jordan were denied a first victory over South Korea by a 91st-minute own goal from Yazan Al-Arab that saw their Asian Cup Group E game end in a 2-2 draw at Al Thumama Stadium in Doha. After falling behind to a Son Heung-min penalty, Jordan entered second-half stoppage time leading 2-1 thanks to an own goal from Park Yong-Woo and a long-range strike from Yazan Al-Naimat, but the Arab nations were denied a famous victory when Hwang In-beom’s shot was diverted into the net by Al-Arab. The draw leaves both teams on four points after two games and on course to qualify for the knockout stages. The South Korea coach Jürgen Klinsmann described the scoreline as a “fair result”, telling reporters: “We took the tempo out of the game after going 1-0 up and lost battles on the field to Jordan, which made it difficult. But those are the games you learn a lot from. Going into the next round is a high priority, but it was a very intense game.” South Korea got off to a perfect start when Son was brought down in the box by Ihsan Haddad in the fourth minute. The Tottenham forward stepped up to take the penalty and, after a five minute-delay for the VAR check, he cooly converted with a chipped effort down the middle amid a crescendo of boos from Jordanian fans. South Korea’s backup goalkeeper Jo Hyeon-Woo, stepping up to replace the injured first-choice stopper Kim Seung-gyu, was tested several times with Jordan’s players clearly instructed to shoot from range. But Jo could do nothing about the Jordan equaliser in the 37th minute when Park headed the ball into his own net. Jordan continued to pile on the pressure and just before half-time Al-Naimat volleyed into the bottom corner to silence the South Korean fans. “At the outset it’s an important draw against South Korea. It’s such a beautiful feeling,” Al-Naimat said. South Korea upped the ante in the second half but it took a full 45 minutes before they finally found an equaliser thanks to Al-Arab’s unfortunate error. South Korea nearly won it in the ninth minute of added time when the ball fell to Hong Hyun-seok at the far post from a set piece but the midfielder’s shot found the side netting. “It is normal to make mistakes at the beginning and the end of the match, South Korea took excellent technical decisions in attack,” said Jordan coach, Hussein Ammouta. “We spared no effort to preserve the result. Eventually we think it’s a positive result. What’s most important is the confidence and high spirits that will allow us to go forward [in the tournament].” In Group E’s other match later on Saturday, Ali Madani’s effort, deep into added time, gave Bahrain a narrow 1-0 victory over Malaysia to leave the table delicately poised. South Korea face winless Malaysia in the final round of fixtures, with Jordan able to top the group with a win over Bahrain.
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