"Explosive sense of inferiority" Chinese fans booed at the penalty shootout in Korea... "If it were us, we would have gone to the final."
"Explosive sense of inferiority" Chinese fans booed at the penalty shootout in Korea... "If it were us, we would have gone to the final."
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South Korea's U-20 national soccer team lost to Saudi Arabia in the semifinals, failing to advance to the finals. Chinese media and fans reacted somewhat embarrassingly to the defeat, saying that their national team could have looked at a higher stage had it not lost to Saudi Arabia in the quarterfinals.
South Korea's U-20 national team, led by head coach Lee Chang-won, faced Saudi Arabia in the semi-finals of the 2025 AFC U-20 Asian Cup held at the Youth Football Training Base in Shenzhen, China on the 26th (Korea time).
Korea dominated the game by banking on its strong offense from the beginning. During the first 45 minutes, Korea dominated the game with 63 percent of possession rate, seven shots fired, and four corner kicks. However, it was regrettable to finish the game at a critical moment. Although Korea had several chances to score, it failed to score a goal due to the opponent team's defense and the goalkeeper's good defense.
The trend was similar in the second half. Korea continued to lead the attack, but failed to penetrate Saudi Arabia's solid defense. In particular, Kim Tae-won's header from Yoon Do-young's cross went off the post at the 35th minute of the second half, missing a decisive opportunity. Eventually, the game went on to extra time, with a scoreless 90 minutes of regular time.
There was no win in the extra time as well. Korea tried to attack aggressively, but failed to open the Saudi goal and started a penalty shootout.
The penalty shootout started with South Korea as the kicker first. However, there was an uneasy trend from the beginning. No. 1 kicker Kim Tae-won's shot was blocked by Saudi goalkeeper Hamed al-Sanquiti, and even No. 2 kicker Lee Chang-woo's shot bounced off the post.
Fortunately, No. 3 kicker Kim Ho-jin and No. 4 kicker Kim Seo-jin made consecutive successes to balance them. Also, Saudi No. 4 kicker Saud Mahmoud Al-Tumbkti missed the match, and the game came back to square one.
The tide went back to Saudi Arabia when the last five kicker, Kim Gyeol, missed. Meanwhile, Saudi No. 5 kicker Ali Kairala Almahdawi calmly scored, and eventually Korea lost 2-3.
As a result, South Korea failed to advance to the final, and Saudi Arabia is competing for the championship in the final against Australia.
Unexpected scenes were also shown in the upcoming match. Chinese fans cheered for Saudi Arabia enthusiastically throughout the match. Notably, they booed Korean players when they were kickers and cheered for Saudi Arabia while shouting "加油" when they were in a penalty shootout.
Usually, it is hard to show favorable responses to the team that eliminated the country. However, Chinese fans rooted for Saudi Arabia, which eliminated the country in the quarterfinals, and the fact that the target was Korea drew attention all the more. 카지노사이트
Analysts say that the Chinese soccer community expressed inferiority complex over the Korean team. After the match, Chinese media showed strong reactions to the team's failure to advance to the semifinals. "The Chinese Football Association was angered by the failure of the team to advance to the semifinals," said China's Sohu. "The U-20 team was evaluated as the strongest team ever. They were systematically nurtured by China to advance to the World Cup finals."