Two teams chasing the 2015 Asian Cup will do battle today in a match between South Korea and Iraq. The semifinal clash scheduled for 4 a.m. ET will be held at ANZ Stadium in Sydney and can be live streamed here. Additional TV coverage can be found on One World Sports.
What They're Saying
South Korea head coach Uli Stielike (via the Japan Times): "Tomorrow [Monday] will be a game where we have to accept the role of favorites because we are coming here in the third position among the Asian teams in the world rankings and Iraq is No. 13, so there is no discussion that we have to accept this role. Only South Korea from the four [top-ranked teams] are still challenging, but if you look at Melbourne, Roger Federer is already out. Sport needs surprises. If it was mathematics, nobody would come to the pitch and also for us it is important to know that if you don't want to be surprised tomorrow, we have to work very hard."
Iraq forward Younis Mahmoud (via Goal): "Korea are a very strong team and a good team, but my memory is going back to 2007 when we played them in the semifinal. I hope 2007 can happen again."
Tactical Preview
Player to Watch: South Korea's Ki Sung-Yeung has made just one appearance in the 2015 Asian Cup, but is an integral part of Swansea City's midfield. In 20 league appearances, the 26-year-old has three goals and an average of 2.5 interceptions.
South Korea's Projected Lineup (4-2-3-1): Jin-Hyeon; Jin-Su, Young-Gwon, Tae-Hwi, Chang-Soo; Sung-Yueng, Joo-Ho; Heung-Min, Tae-Hee, Keun-Ho; Jeong-Hyeop
Iraq's Projected Lineup (4-2-3-1): Hassan; Ismail, Shakir, Ibrahim, Salim; Kasim, Abdulameer; Yasin, Meram, Kalaf; Mahmood
Note: Credit all statistics to officially licensed data from Opta Sports (lineups and statistics via WhoScored).
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