Celtic’s Hyeon-gyu Oh and Hyun-jun Yang were part of the South Korean squad that triumphed over Saudi Arabia in a nail-biting penalty shootout to advance to the Asian Cup quarter-finals.
The intense last-16 clash, which ended 1-1 after extra time at Education City Stadium, saw South Korea secure a 4-2 victory in penalties.
The match featured a dramatic turn of events with South Korea’s Cho Gue-sung netting an equalizer in the 9th minute of added time of the second half, neutralising Abdullah Radif’s earlier goal for Saudi Arabia. Despite not leaving the bench during the match, Oh and Yang witnessed their national team’s crucial victory, keeping their hopes alive in the tournament.
South Korea’s next challenge in the quarter-finals will be against Australia, which includes their Celtic teammate Marco Tilio. This matchup, scheduled for Friday, promises to be an exciting encounter, blending club camaraderie with national competition.
Meanwhile, Celtic’s Japanese players, Daizen Maeda and Reo Hatate, are set to compete with Japan against Bahrain later on Wednesday in their Asian Cup fixture. Japan aims to join South Korea in the quarter-finals, with their match slated for Saturday.
