Nan Tae-Hee scores to give South Korea knockout berth

South Korea defeated Kuwait 1-0 thanks to Nan Tae-Hee's sole goal of the game at the AFC Asian Cup's group match here on Tuesday.

South Korea had secured a place for the quarterfinals after snatching their second triumph in the group. The other team reaching the last eight is Australia as the hosts smashed Oman 4-0 in Sydney.

South Korea pitched seven new players in the starting line-up from the group opener in the match.

Nan's header in the 36th minute was decisive for the game after he received Cha Du-Ri's comfortable pass to the penalty area from the right side.

"I hate to admit it but Kuwait were the better team in many aspects," South Korea's coach Uli Stielike said in his post-match press conference at Canberra Stadium.

"They battled hard for the ball and made better passes. We were quite lucky.

"We're going to have a lot of trouble if we played like we did today. Expectations at home are quite high, and I hope the players can overcome that pressure. They will need to work on their ball control and passes," added Stielike.

Stielike said he expected that Kuwait would play a similarly defense-oriented match as what they had against Australia in the tournament opener last Friday. But Kuwait played an aggressive attack in the match. To him, the losers were actually the better team.

Australia's victory in Sydney means South Korea and the hosts both reached to the knockout stage irrepective of the result between the two teams. The clash between South Korea and Australia on Jan. 17 will decide the leaders in Group A.

As Stielike revealed that midfielders Son Heung-min, Koo Ja-cheol and goalkeeper Kim Jin-hyeon all got flu and he hopes to see these sick players come back in action soon. Endi