Baek Ki-tae, who was criticized for being inferior, beat Tajikistan after a penalty shootout to advance to the semifinals of the U17 Asian Cup...Japan will lose the quarterfinals

Apr 15, 2025

Baek Ki-tae, who was criticized for being inferior, beat Tajikistan after a penalty shootout to advance to the semifinals of the U17 Asian Cup...Japan will lose the quarterfinals
정현웅. Photo courtesy = Korea Football Association



Baek Ki-tae, who was criticized for being inferior, beat Tajikistan after a penalty shootout to advance to the semifinals of the U17 Asian Cup...Japan will lose the quarterfinals
Kim Ji-sung. Photo courtesy of the Korea Football Association
The South Korean U-17 national soccer team beat Tajikistan to reach the semifinals of the Asian Cup.

South Korea, led by head coach Baek Ki-tae, won 5-3 in the shootout against Tajikistan in the quarterfinals of the 2025 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-17 Asian Cup held at Prince Abdulla-Al-Faisal Stadium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on the 15th (Korea time).

As a result, South Korea lost to Indonesia in its first group match by a shock 0-1 defeat, and received a 'intellectual criticism' from Masana Kagiyama, chairman of the technical committee of the Japan Football Association, saying, `We should take as a counter-teacher the decline in the level of Korean soccer, which has been competing as a rival so far.' South Korea then secured all three games and succeeded in advancing to the semifinals.




South Korea, which is trying to win the tournament for the first time in 23 years since the 2002 UAE Games, has unfortunately stayed second at the 2023 Thailand Games and is one step away from advancing to the finals for two consecutive tournaments.

At 11 p.m. on the 17th at Ocard Sports Club Stadium, South Korea will compete for a ticket to the final against Saudi Arabia, the host country that caused a catastrophe that defeated Japan in the quarterfinals. The winner of the South Korea-Saudi match meets the winner of North Korea-Uzbekistan in the final. Expectations for the South-North final of the U-17 Asian Cup have grown for the first time in 11 years since the 2014 Thailand Games. At that time, North Korea won with a 2-1 victory.

Baek Ki-tae, who was criticized for being inferior, beat Tajikistan after a penalty shootout to advance to the semifinals of the U17 Asian Cup...Japan will lose the quarterfinals
photo courtesy of the Korea Football Association
Coach Baek pulled out the 4-3-3 formation. Park Seo-joon (Daejeon) took the lead in attack, and Kim Ji-hyuk (Seongnam) and Kim Eun-sung (Daedong Sego High School) took over both wings. Kim Ye-gun (Jeonbuk), Park Byung-chan (Daejeon), Jin Gun-young (Ansan) set up the midfield team, while Kim Do-yeon (Daejeon), Koo Hyun-bin (Incheon), Jung Hee-seop (Jeonbuk), and Lim Ye-chan (Incheon) took charge of the four backs. Park Do-hoon (Daegu) defended the goal.




South Korea opened with Park Byung-chan's shot in the second minute of the first half. Park Byung-chan connected Kim Ye-gun's left cross with a shot from the gate, but he was blocked by the goalkeeper and swallowed the disappointment. In the 22nd minute of the first half, Park Byung-chan's shot hit the opponent's goalkeeper's hand and hit the post. The first half ended 0-0.

Coach Baek tried to change by excluding Kim Ji-hyuk at half-time and putting in Chung Hyeon-woong. In the 21st minute of the second half, Kim Ji-sung instead of Park Byung-chan and Jang Woo-sik instead of Park Seo-joon were put in. The replacement hit right away. In the 22nd minute of the second half, Kim Ji-sung's right cross was given a valuable first goal by Jung Hyun-woong with a clever 'knee shot'.

Baek Ki-tae, who was criticized for being inferior, beat Tajikistan after a penalty shootout to advance to the semifinals of the U17 Asian Cup...Japan will lose the quarterfinals
박병찬. Photo courtesy = Korea Football Association
Baek Ki-tae, who was criticized for being inferior, beat Tajikistan after a penalty shootout to advance to the semifinals of the U17 Asian Cup...Japan will lose the quarterfinals
박서준. Photo courtesy = Korea Football Association
However, South Korea lost concentration at the last minute and allowed consecutive goals to Muhammad Nazriev in the 38th minute of the second half and Abdullo Ibar Kimzoda in the 40th minute of the second half. In the 9th minute of extra time in the second half, when the team was on the verge of elimination, a miraculous equalizer was scored. Melikmudorf's handball foul earned a penalty kick, and Kim Ji-sung, a kicker, scored.

According to the rules of the tournament, all five kickers, including South Korea's Kim Ye-gun, Kim Ji-sung, Kim Eun-sung, Soyoon-woo (Chungnam Asan), and Koo Hyun-bin (Incheon), scored in the penalty shootout that followed immediately without overtime. On top of that, Park Do-hoon's decisive save won the penalty shootout score 5-3.

Meanwhile, North Korea won a 6-0 victory against Indonesia earlier thanks to relay goals from Choi Sung-hoon, Kim Yoo-jin, Ri Kyung-bong, Kim Tae-guk, Ri Kang-rim and Park Joo-won.



This article was translated by Naver AI translator.