Qatar-Doha Express] In the midst of the Asian Cup, South Korea's soccer team advanced to the quarterfinals of the Asian Cup on Wednesday (31) after a spectacular penalty shootout against Saudi Arabia in the last 16 of the tournament. South Korean goalkeeper Cho Hyun-woo was named Man of the Match after his heroic performance in the crucial match, saving consecutive shots from Saudi players. The "Taeji-Tiger", who has been criticized for his poor performance, made a heroic save and admitted after the match that the key to his team's victory lies in the trust between the players and the coach.
Despite South Korea's mediocre performance in the group stage of this year's Asian Cup, a number of players suffered from public criticism as a result. In particular, Cho Hyun-woo became a target when he was called into action after star goalkeeper Kim Seung-kyu ruptured the cruciate ligament in his right knee. However, the 32-year-old goalkeeper stepped up to the plate at a crucial moment, beating Saudi Arabia's Ainaj and Ghali in the penalty shootout, which was the key to South Korea's advancement. In the face of criticism, Cho Hyun-woo, who attended the post-match press conference as the best player of the match, had this to say: "As a goalkeeper, I never want to concede a goal, and my primary goal is to make sure that I don't concede a goal, but the team and I would like to put the past behind us and do our best to prepare for the next match."
Cho Hyun-woo believes that South Korea's win came from a strong belief: "This victory relied entirely on us keeping our faith, and the coach encouraged us to have confidence in ourselves and the team, so much so that before the penalty shootout, I was confident that I would be able to pounce on my opponent's shot, which I ultimately did, helping the team to advance." He explains that this confidence comes from thorough preparation, "Confidence is developed in training, we trained a lot for the penalty shootout, the goalkeeper coaches had full confidence in me and they put a lot of trust in me no matter what decision was made, and I am confident that I will be able to accomplish the same feat the next time I face a penalty shootout. "
