“I felt so much pressure when we went into penalties,” he said. ”But I believed in myself and my confidence took over, and it felt like a burden had been lifted when I saved the second shot.”

 

The 17-year-old, who also kept out two on-target attempts in the 31st and 81st minutes, said he had been involved in penalty shootouts before but not at this level.

“This was different because it was a really big match. But I won with my friends despite Tajikistan coming back, so I’m very happy.” 

The two-time champions looked headed for a win after going ahead in the 67th minute through substitute Jeong Hyeon-ung. 

Two goals in the last 10 minutes by Muhammad Nazriev and Abdullo Ibragimzoda, however, saw Tajikistan pull ahead before Kim Ji-seong equalised from the penalty spot nine minutes into time added on.

Head coach back Ki-tae thanked his players for not throwing in the towel.

“Tajikistan were really good and balanced so it was difficult to break their line,” he said. “But I'm happy my players never gave up in a difficult match.” 

“We would have been comfortable scoring more goals earlier, but we only had one and then lost two balls in a short period due to a loose defense and a lack of communication on our part.”

Tajikistan rallied in the second half to earn their two goals, and head coach Marco Ragini was understandably proud of his charges.

“We played against the best team in the championship and were on the same level in the second half,” he said. “Korea Republic are strong in every part of the pitch and physically, technically and tactically amazing.

“My team played their hearts out for Tajikistan, and today we knew we had the potential to play at a higher level.”

Korea Republic will take on Saudi Arabia in Thursday’s semi-finals.