Stielike praises South Korea´s ´best performance´

Uli Stielike hailed South Korea’s 1-0 win over Australia on Saturday as their best performance of the Asian Cup so far.

Uli Stielike praised his South Korea side for their best performance of the Asian Cup so far after winning Group A with a 1-0 victory over hosts Australia.

After less-than-convincing 1-0 successes against Oman and Kuwait, Lee Jung-hyub’s 32nd-minute strike settled a high-tempo encounter in Brisbane on Saturday.

“I think the performance today was extraordinary from both teams,” German coach Stielike said.

“We were the winners 1-0 at the end but we saw possibilities from Australia. It could have been 1-1.

“For us, the result was not so important. We were already qualified [for the quarter-finals].

“For us, it was about how we played and this was our best performance. It was a very tough but our players gave 100 per cent.

“I told the players before the game not to worry about the result. They played with a winning mentality, a tournament mentality and with this mentality, we can go forward.”

South Korea will now play the runner-up in Group B in the quarter-final, with Saudi Arabia and Uzbekistan meeting on Sunday.