MUSCAT, October 23: Korea twice rallied from the arrears to post a 4-2 victory over a fighting Oman in the Hero Asian Champions Trophy at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex here on Tuesday.
Oman opened the scoring in the sixth minute through Salah Al-Saadi’s fine deflection, but only to see the Koreans equalize in the next minute on a field goal from Hwang Tae-Il. An outstanding goal by Mohammed Al Lawati put Oman into the lead again in the 36th minute, when he split through the defense and beat the goalkeeper with a diving one-handed shot.
In the last quarter, the Koreans managed to score three times. On two occasions, they capitalized on an extra player edge they enjoyed when Omani players were sent off the field for deliberate infringements.
Lee Seung-Hoon brought the scores level at 2-2 with an opportunistic strike in the 47th minute before two penalty corner goals from Yang Ji-Hun (51st minute) and Jang Jong-Hyun (59th) sealed the fate of the match.
This is Korea’s first victory after three losses in the preliminary round-robin league of the six-nation competition, providing the Koreans a glimmer of hope to make the semi-finals.
Korea will next play defending champions India in their last league fixture tomorrow. A victory over India, who have already secured their passage into the semi-finals, can boost the Koreans hopes of making the semi-finals.
Oman is yet to secure a point from four outings. Their last league game will be against reigning Asian Games champions Japan on Thursday.