At 23 o'clock in the evening of February 6, 2024 Beijing time, the first match of the semifinals of this Asian Cup will start, and the dark horse Jordan will face the South Korean team. I believe that most fans will be optimistic about the South Korean team, because Jordan, which is only ranked 87th in the FIFA rankings, wants to beat South Korea, which is ranked 23rd in the FIFA rankings. However, what we need to know is that in previous years of the World Series, there is generally a "big hit must die". For example, in the last World Cup, no one was optimistic about the Argentine team, but Argentina, under the leadership of Messi, finally won the championship. Compared with Germany, Spain, etc., it is "unsatisfactory" in people's infinite expectations.
Although in the history of the Jordanian team, they have never beaten the South Korean team. The two teams have played each other a total of 6 times before, with Jordan winning 0, drawing 3 and losing 3. The most noteworthy game was the second round of the group stage of this Asian Cup, when Jordan drew 2-2 with South Korea. The reason why South Korea was able to score two goals, one was a penalty kick and the other was an own goal given by Jordan. In contrast, the Jordanian team's goal is more "golden".
It is worth mentioning that the referee of this semi-final is still the Chinese referee Ma Ning. Ma Ning has officiated a total of seven games in this Asian Cup, including Jordan's 2-2 draw with South Korea in the group stage. In the group stage matches, Ma Ning showed a total of 5 yellow cards, including 2 for South Korea and 3 for Jordan. And a penalty was awarded to South Korea. It should be said that the South Korean team was able to retreat with a draw in that game, and Ma Ning "contributed a lot".
Although Jordan lagged behind South Korea in all statistics in the 2-2 draw with South Korea, there is one statistic that may be an important factor for Jordan to overturn South Korea. That's the success rate of the pass, the Jordan team at that time had a 53% success rate, while the South Korean team only had 27%. Jordan made a whopping 25 tackles in that game, compared to South Korea's 19. Therefore, although the Jordanian team did not win against the South Korean team, from the bottom of their hearts, they really did not "scare" the Koreans.
So, I think the Jordanian team's defense will be a big headache for the South Korean team. And once the defensive counterattack is used to win a city, then the South Korean team may be tragically out. Son Heung-min's performance in this tournament was not remarkable and did not meet people's expectations.
Score prediction: Jordan 2-1 South Korea.