South Korea and Australia fought hard in Friday's Asian Cup one-eighth final, and after 120 minutes of hard work, the South Koreans narrowly escaped with a win. After the match, South Korean fans described the team's performance as "zombie soccer," an unofficial title that South Korean head coach Ki Lianshi Moon said he didn't mind, while Son Heung-min, the man of the match, said that the victory would only unite the team even more.
After eliminating Saudi Arabia in the Round of 16 on penalties, South Korea went on to play extra time against Australia in the Round of 8, eventually winning the match thanks to Son Heung-min's penalty kick. Both knockout matches were fought back from a deficit, only to complete the equalizer in the extra time of the legal time. Australia, on the other hand, easily beat Indonesia in the round of 16 and had two more days of rest than Korea, but late in the match, when the Australian players were close to their physical limits, the Korean players still seemed to have a constant flow of energy, and their tenacity was breathtaking.
When the final whistle of the eighth-round match sounded late at night in South Korea, there were still many fans stayed up to watch the live broadcast. After the game, one Korean fan used the term "zombie soccer" to describe the resilience of the Korean team. Asked to comment on the title at the post-match press conference, Kieran Swann responded with a smile, "I don't mind. Korea has not won the Asian Cup for more than 60 years and the nation has extremely high expectations for the team. This mentality may have affected our performance in the first half, but once we lost the points, there was no way back but to speed up the pace of the game and create chances. I could see in the eyes of the Korean players that they were eager to deliver a performance the nation could be proud of."
