“We knew that it was going to be tough today but we also knew we could reach the final,” said Soares. “We defended really well and we had a goalkeeper we can depend on, maybe the best in the world at his age.

“We knew they were good in one-on-one situations. We don’t know why 22 (Yoon Do-young) didn’t start but it was good for us. We knew we had to defend more than usual today and look for counterattacks."

“But at the same time we tried to play, compete and tried to press high. We also knew that in the second half, it would be less difficult because they played longer than us in the quarters and we knew that if we went into spot-kicks, it would be an advantage for us because of our goalkeeper.”

Standing in Saudi Arabia's way in their bid for a fourth title will be Australia, who defeated Japan 2-0 in their semi-final.

The key reason for Saudi Arabia advancing was Yousef - having done well to keep efforts from Shin Min-ha and Son Seung-min out in regulation time, the custodian rose to the occasion in the shootout as he twice went the right way to deny Tae-won and Gyeol.

“First, the match wasn’t easy,” said the 1.95m tall Yousef. “Maybe we got lucky but these are the moments that we have to take in our favour.

“The penalties are normally 80% for players and 20% for goalkeepers. Me as a goalkeeper, I have to make a guess which direction to go and when I manage to save one, it’s also down to luck.”