Match Preview: Australia vs Korea Republic | AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023™ Quarter Final

The Subway Socceroos return to the Al-Janoub Stadium in Al-Wakrah on Saturday morning (2:30am AEDT) for a 2015 final rematch against Korea Republic, with a semi-final spot on the line.

• READ MORE: How To Watch Australia vs Korea Republic | AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023™
• EXTRA: That's a Wrap: Subway Socceroos' equal strongest Asian Cup start headlines January

Having reached their fifth consecutive Asian Cup quarter-final, the Subway Socceroos will attempt a feat matched only twice in their history, a position in Asia's final four. However, standing in their way is a star-studded Korea Republic who have shown immense resolve to make it this far.

Australia's last match saw the green and gold advance comfortably from it's Round of 16 tie, defeating neighbours Indonesia 4-0. An early own goal, a Boyle diving strike, a Goodwin volley, and a Souttar header, helped Graham Arnold record a victory in his 50th game in charge.

A third clean-sheet of the tournament from Maty Ryan represents Australia's best defensive record at an Asian Cup after four games. A late Uzbekistan header is the only attempt to find Ryan's net, with the Subway Socceroos tied with hosts Qatar for least goals conceded so far (1).

Saturday's opponent will be a vast step up from Indonesia, with Korea Republic (23) sitting two places higher than Australia (25) on the FIFA World Rankings. Former Germany and United States manager Jurgen Klinsmann takes charge of the 'Taegeuk Warriors' and boasts a squad full of world-class players.

Tweet: https://twitter.com/Socceroos/status/1752935057172344932

Korea Republic's squad contains the like of Bayern Munich centre-back Kim Min-Jae, PSG midfielder Lee Kang-in, Mainz's Lee Jae-Sung, Stuttgart forward Jeong Woo-Yeong, and Wolves' Hwang Hee-Chan.

The largest threat however, comes in the form of captain Son Heung-Min, who has regained his best form under former Socceroos and now Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou.

Graham Arnold and his squad will feel comfortable playing against such strong opposition, having overcome more fancied opponents in Tunisia and Denmark, during the FIFA World Cup over a year ago. The history books also stand in the favour of the Aussies, with 11 victories for Australia compared to South Korea's 8.

READ MORE: Our previous AFC Asian Cup™ matches against Korea Republic

Perhaps the strongest storyline heading into the match will be the motivation of both sides to biuld on the legacy of the 2015 Asian Cup. Indeed, the pair faced off twice, including at Stadium Australia in that tournament's Final in front of more than 76,000 fans.

Massimo Luongo struck a brilliant strike after receiving the ball on the turn right on the stroke of the interval. But hearts would be broken in stoppage time when Son Heung-Min expertly dispatched his one-on-one attempt beyond Maty Ryan in the 91st minute. 

Extra time ensued and on 105 minutes Tomi Juric's persistence set up Jame Troisi's winner, sparking scenes of jubilation. Ange Postecoglou's side were able to hold on and secure the Socceroos' first AFC Asian Cup™ title at Korea Republic's expense.

Tweet: https://twitter.com/Socceroos/status/1752436527152636375

FIFA World Rankings

Australia: 25

Korea Republic: 23

Head-to-Head

Played: 30
Wins: 11
Draws: 11
Losses: 8

Insights

• The Socceroos’ last win over South Korea came in that fateful Asian Cup final in 2015 - since then, two international friendlies in 2019 and 2019 have seen a draw and narrow loss respectively for Australia
• In the 75 minutes that Craig Goodwin’s played this tournament, he’s scored and assisted, created eight chances, and made nine accurate crosses
• Since October 14 (2023), the Socceroos have conceded just two goals - one against England and the other coming at the hands of Uzbekistan
• Australia have also been unbeaten since playing England - an achievement that stretches across 109 days and eight matches
• Jackson Irvine and Martin Boyle have netted the same amount of goals as Hueng-Min Son, having all scored two thus far in the Asian Cup

What They Said

Graham Arnold on Indonesia performance

“The improvements today were I think the individual belief, and some of the actions the boys were doing, in a lot of ways it was more freedom and more relaxed from them, and that’s what I want. I want them to show their individual qualities. It’s good to have a great system of play and it’s good to have great attacking patterns but I’d rather see these boys relax and show their skills and imagination, I saw that growing today.”

“For me keeping clean sheets is important, when you’re in a tournament situation, it is an important message for the team that even if you are up 2-0, keeping a clean sheet means we will win the game. It builds belief and confidence in the defensive side of things. If you have a great mentality, you’ll get everyone to defend right.”

“The boys know their jobs and they can go out there and get it done.”

Arnold on Korea Republic preparation

"One of the most important things in a tournament situation is how you use downtime, making sure that the players keep their brain fresh and their mind clear, the boys are in real good spirits. Of course [Korea Republic] will be up for the battle, but our full focus will be on us and ourselves.

"The boys trained great yesterday, a lot of energy, they know exactly what is expected of them, they know exactly what to do. We're up against a top opponent, and we need to go out there and believe in ourselves. We have built that belief and my expectations will always be the same, when we go out on that pitch, we go out there to win."

"It's about getting our game right, defensively we will be well set-up, we have conceded only one goal in the four game so far, while they have conceded seven. But we need to make sure that with the ball we are better tomorrow."

Arnold on what he wants the legacy of this squad to be

"We have that belief and that energy to go out and make the nation back home extremely proud. That's what we have been building the model on for 4-5 years, to do it now just for ourselves but making Australia proud and to inspire kids to become footballers, and for these boys to become heroes."

Mitchell Duke

READ MORE: Duke ready to fire for Socceroos in Quarter Final against Korea Republic

“Physically, they've got a shorter turn around and they obviously played the 120 minutes plus the pens, there's going to be some sore bodies and tired bodies from the South Korea camp. We've got to exploit that with our high energy and our physicality of how we play anyway, I think it could be an advantage for us to use for sure and I'm sure we're going to look at that in the coming days.”

“Coming up against South Korea, I think there's going to be a completely different approach and a different game altogether, and they're going to be coming at us we're going to be going at them. There'll be more spaces and maybe more fluid fluidity to kind of play football as well, so hopefully that's going to suit us even better and create more chances and obviously come away with the win.”

“We've got our own little belief system and we know when we can perform to our best that nobody can stop us."

Keanu Baccus

READ MORE: “We don’t fear them” says Baccus ahead of Korea Republic Quarter Final clash

“It will probably be a slightly different challenge, but we'll be ready for it, we're going to take it to them and go toe-to-toe with them for sure. We have got the extra two days to recover, which is great for us, so we're going to take full advantage of that and do what we do best.”

“We're not too worried about them, we just worry about ourselves, but yeah they've got some individual players that are great, and we've got talent too, we respect them, but we don't fear them. We go out and play our game and do what we've been doing this tournament. We've only conceded the one goal this whole tournament, if we do that again the rest will take care of itself.”

Maty Ryan

READ MORE: Ryan pleased with ‘tournament mode’ Socceroos marching onto Asian Cup Quarter Finals

“We’re in tournament mode, and the most important thing is winning and defensively. Keeping a clean sheet goes a long way to doing that. Worst case scenario, finishing the game and you’re 0-0 with a clean sheet. But with the talent and quality we’ve got, we always back ourselves to create chances and put opportunities away.”

“When you're out here, and you're a professional footballer, and you're taking on another team that's obviously trying to do everything that they can to win a game, it's not easy. We're a tight bunch, a tight-knit group of boys, and we all treat each other like brothers, and it's like a family in here.”

Bruno Fornaroli

READ MORE: Starting for Socceroos in the Asian Cup an ‘amazing feeling’ for Fornaroli

“We put everything that we can, both teams have passion and we try to fight for every single ball, even to the limit sometimes, it's very, very close and risky but we are here, we want to win and that's the way we have to play."

“Sometimes the game demands different things for me or for the striker, and in the end, there was one key chance for Duke tonight and that come in only the last 10 minutes, so sometimes we play a different role. Even if we are we are number nine, it doesn't matter, we are here to win, doesn't matter if we score, but I still believe my time will come in the national team so I will keep believing every single game."

AFC ASIAN CUP QATAR 2023™ QUARTER FINAL

Every AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023 match will be live on Paramount+