Uzbekistan beat Thailand 2-1 in their Asian Cup last-16 tie with a second-half winner from Abbosbek Fayzullayev at Al Janoub Stadium to set up a quarter-final clash with hosts and defending champions Qatar, whilst it was South Korea who turn their match on its head with a late leveller in normal time before winning on penalties against a Saudi Arabia side who dominated so much from the start, and who were so close to wrapping up the win themselves.
Thailand was looking to beat Uzbekistan for the first time since 2007 but the central Asian nation scored twice to deny Masatada Ishii's side. Uzbekistan took the lead in the first half when Diyor Holmatov lobbed a cross-field ball into the box to Azizbek Turgunboev, who expertly controlled the pass with his chest before volleying it past Patiwat Khammai in Thailand's goal.
But Thailand equalised just before the hour mark when Supachok Sarachat pulled the trigger from more than 25 yards out, with his low shot curling past Uzbekistan keeper Utkir Yusupov who did not react in time to make the save. However, Uzbekistan restored their lead seven minutes later through Abbosbek Fayzullaev (pic) when the winger quickly turned his defender and fired from the edge of the box, directing a low shot that squeezed past the keeper and into the net.
In their last 16 clash, South Korea beat Saudi Arabia 4-2 in a penalty shootout to advance to the quarterfinals after a thriller ended 1-1 in extra time at Education City Stadium. After South Korea's Cho Gue-Sung equalised in second-half added time to cancel Abdullah Radif's opener, the game went into penalties, where Sami Al-Najei and Abdulrahman Ghareeb had their penalties saved by Jo Hyeon-Woo
South Korea, on their hand, converted all their spot kicks to advance. "I had confidence that I could make some saves for my team,” Jo said. “I'm happy I could take my team through to the next round."
Coach, Jurgen Klinsmann, added: “That's the reason why I badly wanted to win our group. Some people said I was happy not to top the group and avoid Japan.
“We didn't win the group and we've paid the price." South Korea will have only two days to recover, however, with their quarterfinal clash against 2015 champions, Australia, taking place on Friday, whilst Uzbekistan will be looking to reach the semi-finals for only the second time when they take on Qatar on Saturday.