Park Yong-woo properly avenged the Asian Cup’s “Jordan Nightmare.”
To Park, Jordan is an opponent of painful memories. He was cited as the cause of his team’s defeat in the semifinals of the 2023 Asian Cup in Qatar in February amid the worst slump.
South Korea, which was aiming to regain Asian hegemony for the first time in 64 years under former coach Jurgen Klinsmann at the time, advanced step by step and reached the semifinals in a zombie-like appearance in the slump that continued from the beginning.
However, he lost 0-2 to Jordan, his opponent in the semifinals, and had to lower his head.
Park Yong-woo, who started as a third-line midfielder along with Hwang In-beom, struggled against Jordan throughout the game. He was reeling under strong pressure and made mistakes repeatedly, and failed to protect his back to the defense line properly.
In particular, he even provided an excuse for the loss due to a pass miss while attacking in a build-up situation. 토토사이트
After the game, Park said, “My mistake is huge. It resulted in a loss. I apologize to the players who worked hard together, the coaching staff, and the fans who supported me until early in the morning. I have nothing more to say than sorry.”
Then, he finally got a chance to avenge his loss in about eight months. Having passed the second Asian qualifying round for the 2026 North-China World Cup, Korea was included in the same group as Jordan in the third qualifying round.
Park Yong-woo continued to play as the mainstay of his team Al Ain, changing his skills, and recounting his nightmare to Jordan, who he met again.
In the third Group B match of the third qualifying round at Amman International Stadium in Jordan on the 10th (Korea time), Park Yong-woo started as a third-line midfielder with Hwang In-beom and showed a different performance than before.
Park Yong-woo came down between Kim Min-jae and Cho Yoo-min, who played as center defenders, and played a stable ball distribution, and served as a link between attack and defense through a calm pass.
And in the defensive situation, he maintained a high concentration until the end and protected the defense with no major mistakes.
On this day, Park Yong-woo played full-time, recording 125 ball touches, 91% pass accuracy, 5 out of 6 long passes, 4 out of 7 ball competitions, 1 clearance, 2 interceptions, and 1 tackle.
In addition, in the 23rd minute of the second half with a 1-0 lead, he played forward defense and stole the ball from the opponent in the midfield, which led to additional goals through Bae Joon-ho and Oh Hyun-kyu.
Park Yong-woo, who endured the pain, has grown one step further and contributed greatly to the victory of the away game in Jordan.
