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- Koreans defeated Australia 4-3 on penalties on Tuesday night in Al-Mubarraz
Al-Mubarraz: South Korea won the 2024 West Asian Football Federation Under-23 Championship after beating Australia on penalties in the final at Al-Fateh Stadium on Tuesday night.
The match finished in a 2-2 draw before the Korean team emerged victorious after winning the penalty shootout 4-3.
Australia took the lead through Alou Kuol after only 11 minutes, but South Korea equalized 15 minutes later through Lee Young-jun to ensure parity at half-time.
South Korea took the lead for the first time in the match on 62 minutes through Kang Seong-jin and this time it was Australia’s turn to square the match nine minutes later, Kuol notching his second of the game.
In the deciding penalty shootout, South Korea managed to score with all four of their kicks, while Australia could manage only three successful efforts from five attempts.
In the all-Arab third-place playoff earlier on Tuesday, hosts Saudi Arabia — playing with their under-21 team — defeated Egypt on penalties after their match had also finished 2-2.
Mahmoud Saber gave Egypt a fifth-minute lead, before Marwan Al-Sahafi equalized for Saudi Arabia on 37 minutes. The drama came in the closing stages of the match with the hosts taking the lead on 86 minutes through Meshari Al-Nemer before Hossam Abdel Maguid saved Egypt with a goal two minutes into stoppage time.
Saudi Arabia converted all four of their spot kicks while Egypt managed only two from four.
Earlier in the week, Jordan beat Iraq 3-1 in the fifth-place playoff and Thailand defeated the UAE 1-0 to secure seventh place in the eight-team tournament.