Son, Klinsmann embrace South Korea’s ‘zombie football’ tag،
After equalizing in injury time before triumphing in extra time in the Asian Cup quarter-final against Australia, South Korea's play was dubbed “zombie football” by their fans, a team that refuses to die.
It's a nickname that coach Jurgen Klinsmann is happy with, although he would much prefer his team to win their next match within 90 minutes.
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“Any nickname suits me!” Klinsmann laughed after the match.
Trailing 1-0 thanks to Craig Goodwin's first-half volley on Friday night, the Taegeuk Warriors' furious attempts to come back eventually saw Son Heung-Min brought down by Lewis Miller with seconds remaining at Al Janoub Stadium , opening the door. for Hwang Hee-Chan to equalize from the spot in the 96th minute.
Miller then equalized Hwang on the edge of the box during extra time and Son fired a free kick past Maty Ryan into the Socceroos net in the 104th minute to seal a comeback win and a semi-final showdown with Jordan on Tuesday next.
It was the fourth consecutive match in Doha in which Korea found the net after the 90 minutes had expired, hence their now nicknamed Zombie as they seek to end a 64-year World Cup drought. 'Asia.
As for how his team can find it in themselves to continue to pull themselves back from the brink, and why they keep finding themselves in a position where they need it?
“It's a wonderful group of players. It's a very good team,” Klinsmann said. “Maybe because the expectations in Korea, back home, are to bring this title home after more than 60 years, maybe it comes to mind a little bit to say 'Oh, what if 'wasn't the case'?
“So maybe it stalls them a little bit in the first half. Then we go down and we all know now [we need to] go forward. And then start speeding things up. They are starting to create chances. They are starting to have ball movement that we always want to see from the start.
“When it's still zero-nil, maybe we worry too much. I always tell them not to worry. It's all psychological. It's a fantastic experience. And now we are in the semi-final. We know we still have two games to go and hopefully make this country proud.
“But you can see in the players' eyes how much they want to do for their country, their families and their friends [proud]”.
Having also made a complete change in Korea's penalty shootout win over Saudi Arabia, Son has now racked up 510 minutes – not counting stoppage time – across Korea's five matches, scoring three goals and winning a match-saving penalty.
The Tottenham Hotspur superstar, however, has few worries when it comes to fatigue or zombies, not when there is a chance of bringing an Asian crown home.
“What seems important to me is that we win,” he said. “One thing I can say with confidence is that it just helps us stay even stronger. Playing 120 minutes. It's painful. It's difficult. It's not easy. But the state of The spirit the boys show, it just makes us think together.
“And I think I can confidently say that our strength is in what we want. We're all in this together. So I think that's what's really important, the spirit that we show. I think that This is what people really need to focus on.
“I think it's more about mentality. It's more about mentality and what you think in your head. You play for your country and there should be no excuses. There should there be no excuse.
“After tomorrow there will be only four left in Doha. Four teams will stay in Doha and out of the four teams only one will win a trophy. Our team will fight for the trophy and now there should be no excuse for the fatigue, “Fatigue, whatever it may be, should have no excuse. I'm just going to get the trophy to take home.”
