[Moment in Focus: Lim Joo-jin hits Qatar's passionate battle] South Korea beat Saudi Arabia with a thrilling 12-yarder in the Asian Cup thriller on Wednesday to advance to the last eight. Goalkeeper Cho Hyun-woo was honored as the player of the match after he saved two shots from Saudi players like a beast in the match that was a matter of honor. The hero of "Taiji Tigers", who was criticized for his poor performance, said after the match that the key to the team's victory was the mutual trust between players and coaches.
South Korea did not perform well in this group stage, and many of the players were under tremendous public pressure as a result. Especially when starting goalkeeper Kim Seung-kyu suffered a ruptured cruciate ligament in his right knee, Cho Hyun-woo was called into action and became a target for a while. However, the 32-year-old goalkeeper shone in the match, successfully saving shots from Saudi Arabia's Ainaja and Gareth, which became the key to South Korea's advancement. In the face of criticism, Cho Hyun-woo, who was the best player of the match, responded in the post-match press conference, "As a goalkeeper, I never want to concede a goal, and my primary goal is to try to keep the goal intact, but we want to forget the past and prepare for the next match with all our might."
Cho Hyun-woo believes that the secret of Korea's victory lies in the power of belief: "This victory relied entirely on our strong beliefs, the coach encouraged us to have confidence in ourselves and the team, even before the 12-yard battle, I was confident that I would be able to pounce on the opponent's shot, and it turned out to be just as I had hoped, helping the team to advance." He further explained that this confidence comes from daily training preparation, "Confidence builds up in training, we trained a lot for the 12-yard battle, the goalkeeper coach had full confidence in me, no matter what decision he made, he gave me great confidence, and I am sure that if I get another chance to punt 12 yards, I will be able to accomplish the same feat again. "
