Ansan: Uli Stielike insists his Korea Republic side’s last-gasp winner in Thursday’s 1-0 victory over Lebanon was no less than they deserved despite what had ultimately been an underwhelming result.
Having already sealed first place in Group G of the 2018 FIFA World Cup/2019 AFC Asian Cup joint-qualifiers even before the game, there was little pressure on the Taegeuk Warriors apart from those from the 30,532 supporters that had turned up to see their heroes at the Ansan Wa Stadium.
Nonetheless, Stielike opted to field a strong lineup featuring stars like Swansea’s Ki Sung-yueng (pictured, right), Augsburg’s Koo Ja-cheol and Crystal Palace’s Lee Chung-young (centre), only to see them struggle to find a way past their opponents throughout the 90 minutes.
But in the third minute of injury-time, they finally got the breakthrough after Ki did well to break free down the left and cross for substitute Lee Jyeong-hyeop to send a neat finish into the bottom corner.
While it was far from the most convincing win, Stielike was in defiant mood as he insisted he had few complaints over the performance.
“Until the 91st minute, I thought an unfair result would happen in football, but a minute later, my thoughts changed,” said the 61-year-old.
“We really had a win that was collected fairly.
“We were the only team on the pitch that went for the attack.”
The former West Germany international, who is best known for his eight-year spell playing for Real Madrid, had also said before Thursday’s game that he would hand a chance to Europe-based players like Lee and Kim Jin-su, who have not been featuring much for their respective clubs this season.
However, he was left with mixed feelings at the final whistle, which was one of the few things he appeared to be dissatisfied about.
“Lee was ready to play because, even if he wasn’t playing regularly for his club, he was still included on the roster and kept himself fit,” added Stielike.
“But Kim lacked stability throughout the match and I think his performance reflects that he hasn’t been on (Borussia Dortmund’s) match roster recently.”
Stielike has been in charge of Korea Republic since September 2014 after being named as the permanent successor to Hong Myung-bo, who stepped down following a disappointing group-stage exit at that year’s FIFA World Cup in Brazil.
Photo: AFP
Source: the-afc.com