South Korea beats Iraq 2-0 to reach Asian Cup final

South Korea's Kim Young-gwon (L) celebrates with teammate Ki Sung-yueng after scoring a goal against Iraq during their Asian Cup semi-final soccer match at the Stadium Australia in Sydney January 26, 2015. [Photo/Agencies]

The Koreans had more to shout about but Iraq gave their supporters a lift with a flurry of attacks just before the break when winger Amjed Kalaf's raking drive forced Kim Jin-hyeon to get down low to push the ball across his goal.

The South Korea goalkeeper gave the Iraqis the sniff of an equaliser when he rashly charged out of his area three minutes after the break but another two minutes on and his team's lead had been doubled.

The ball bounced around the area in an extended bout of aerial ping-pong from a Son corner before Lee Jeong-hyeop chested the ball down for Kim Young-gwon to hit it first time from the edge of the box past the despairing dive of Hassan.

Iraq were forced to press forward but clear-cut opportunities were still few and far between for them while Hassan had to be at his sharpest to deny long-range efforts from South Korean skipper Ki Sung-yueng and Son inside a minute.

Kalaf continued to cause problems with his pace but there always seemed to be a South Korean foot or head to cut out the final ball and prevent a scoring chance.