South Korea advanced to the quarterfinals of the Asian Cup on Tuesday with a 4-1 drubbing of India to finish second in Group C.
South Korea finished on seven points, same as Australia’s, which beat Bahrain 1-0 to win the group on goal difference.
South Korea scored twice within the first nine minutes, Ji Dong-won finding the net in the sixth and Koo Ja-cheol doubling the lead three minutes later.
India pulled one back through Sunil Chhetri?s penalty in the 12th, before Ji restored South Korea?s two-goal cushion in the 23rd. Substitute Son Heung-min scored in the 81st after South Korea had wasted a host of chances in the second half. Koo also set up two goals.
South Korea went into the lead after Lee Chung-yong crossed from the right and India goalkeeper Subrata Paul made a poor interception that saw Ji’s headear flying into the far post.
Three minutes later, another mistimed clearance by the Indian defense from a cross by Cha Du-ri allowed Koo to head the ball to Ji, who nodded it back for Koo to fake the goalkeeper and slot home his fourth goal of the tournament.
India were awarded a penalty after Chhetri was brought down by big defender Kwak Tae-hwi. The forward, who plays for Kansas City Wizards, converted the penalty himself to cut India?s deficit.
Subrata made two good saves late in the first half and also foiled Manchester United captain Park Ji-sung by sticking out his right leg to stop a shot in the second half, and then blocked a close-range header from Son Heung-min.
India finished the tournament with three losses in three games, having conceded 15 goals.
South Korea: Jung Sung-ryong; Hwang-Jae-won, Kwak Tae-hwi, Lee Young-pyo, Cha Du-ri (Choi Hyo-jin, 45), Park Ji-sung (Yoon Bit Ga-ram, 76), Lee Young-rae, Koo Ja-cheol, Ki Sung-yueng (Son Heung-min, 45), Lee Chung-yong, Ji Dong-won.
India: Subrata Paul; Anwar, Surkumar Singh, N.P. Pradeep (Merajuddin Wadoo, 56), Renedy Singh (Deepak Kumar Mandal, 5), Abhishek Yadav (Bhaichung Bhutia, 78), Sunil Chhetri, Gouramangi Singh, Climax Lawrence, Syed Rahim Nabi, Steven Dias.