CANBERRA (Yonhap) ― South Korea may have defeated Kuwait 1-0 at the ongoing AFC Asian Cup in Canberra on Tuesday, but South Korea’s head coach Uli Stielike said the loser was actually the better team.

Nam Tae-hee headed in the winner in the 36th minute for South Korea, which had to hold on for dear life for most of the second half, as Kuwait kept pressure on the sloppy South Korean defense.

“I hate to admit it but Kuwait was the better team in many aspects,” Stielike said. “They battled hard for the ball and made better passes. We were quite lucky.” 

On the eve of the match, Stielike predicted that Kuwait would play a similarly defensive-minded game that it had against Australia in the tournament opener last Friday. Kuwait ended up losing that game 4-1, and Stielike reasoned that he didn’t believe a team could change its approach so quickly.

When told of Stielike’s comments, Kuwait head coach Nabil Maaloul bristled at the notion that his team would only play passive football.

Stielike admitted Kuwait proved him wrong.

“Kuwait came out far more aggressive (than I’d thought) and played an entirely different style of football,” he said. “We talked plenty about our opponents and thought we were prepared, but Kuwait outplayed us.” 


Nam Tae-hee shines in cup debut

In South Korea’s sloppy 1-0 victory over Kuwait, energetic winger Nam Tae-hee was the lone bright spot on an otherwise sluggish offense.

Nam, making his Asian Cup debut in place of the injured winger Lee Chung-yong, scored the winner in the 36th minute.

Right fullback Cha Du-ri blazed past Fahad Awad on the right wing and sent a perfect cross, as Nam jumped in between two defenders to knock it in past goalkeeper Hameed Youssef.

The 23-year-old midfielder for Lekhwiya SC in Qatar kept the pedal to the metal in the second half. He connected with Cha again in the 58th minute and his left-foot shot rolled just wide of the net, as Kuwait breathed a sigh of relief.

With his teammates on defense trying to withstand Kuwait’s pressure, Nam almost single-handedly kept South Korea afloat in the second half.

This was Nam’s 18th international appearance. He had been in battle with Koo Ja-cheol for the attacking midfielder spot. Nam outplayed Koo in South Korea’s final pre-Asian Cup match against Saudi Arabia on Jan. 4. Koo was virtually invisible in the first half but Nam, as his substitute in the second half, breathed more life into the offense.

Stielike, however, made Koo a surprise starter against Oman last Saturday. Koo responded with an energetic performance and was named the Player of the Match, as South Korea prevailed 1-0.


Injured Koreans on the mend

The injured and sick South Korean players who sat out the country’s previous AFC Asian Cup match are almost back to full health, one of the team’s midfielders said Wednesday, as they arrived at the site of their final Group A match scheduled for the weekend.

South Korea traveled from Canberra to Brisbane earlier in the day, in preparation for the final Group A contest against Australia on Saturday. In Canberra, South Korea defeated Oman and Kuwait, both by the scores of 1-0, to clinch a spot in the quarterfinals.

For that second match on Tuesday, three players were sidelined with a cold, while two others were out of action with leg injuries.

One, midfielder Lee Chung-yong, will miss the rest of the tournament with a leg fracture. Ahead of the team’s practice at Perry Park, midfielder Park Joo-ho said other injured or sick players have made a recovery.

“I think the ones who missed the Kuwait match should be ready to face Australia on Saturday,” Park said. “They’re all close to full health.”

Midfielders Son Heung-min and Koo Ja-cheol, along with goalkeeper Kim Jin-hyeon, were under the weather on Tuesday. All three had started the team’s first match against Oman on Saturday.

Defender Kim Chang-soo suffered a thigh injury during the match against Oman, as did Lee. Though Lee is now out of the picture, Kim is fully recovered.