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Although he failed to reach the top of Asia for the first time in 64 years, the quarterfinals against Australia at the Qatar Asian Cup were unscripted dramas. South Korea allowed Australia's Craig Goodwin to score the first goal in the 42nd minute of the first half. The regular time stopped in the 45th minute of the second half, and the defeat was thick. At that moment, a major reversal began. In the extra time of the second half, Son Heung-min (Tottenham) won a penalty, and Hwang Hee-chan (Wolverhampton) calmly scored the goal as a kicker, bringing the game to square one. The theater goal was scored in the 14th minute of extra time. It was Son Heung-min. He scored an upset with a fantastic curl of a free-kick from the left side of the penalty area. South Korea advanced to the semifinals with a 2-1 victory after 120 minutes of bloodshed.
Soccer fans didn't forget the memory either. Son Heung-min's free-kick goal was selected as the 2024 'Goal of the Year' and the match against Australia 'Game of the Year'. The Korea Football Association announced on the 6th the results of the voting for the '2024 KFA Goal of the Year' and the 'Game of the Year' selected by fans. The vote was held on the Soccer Association's marketing platform PlayKFA from the 5th to the 26th of last month. 2,607 PlayKFA members participated through the app and website. Of the eight 'match of the year' candidates, the Asian Cup quarter-final match against Australia was selected by 64% of soccer fans who voted.
After head coach Hong Myung-bo took the helm, Kuwait ranked second with 13.6% support in the fifth round of the Asian qualifying round for the 2026 North-China World Cup, which won 3-1 on the road with overwhelming performance. South Korea's Oh Se-hoon (Matcha), Son Heung-min and Bae Joon-ho (Stoke City) scored consecutive goals in the match against Kuwait held on November 14 last year. In October, captain Son Heung-min failed to join the team due to a hamstring (back muscle of the thigh) injury. Despite the captain's absence, the fourth round of the third round of the North-China U.S. World Cup, which cooked Iraq 3-2 at Yongin Mir Stadium, ranked third with 12.7%. In the match against Iraq, Oh Se-hoon, Oh Hyun-kyu (Henk) and Lee Jae-sung (Mainz) scored a goal.
In the case of 'Goal of the Year', Son Heung-min topped the list with a 48.8 percent overwhelming selection. In second place was a goal (23.2%) in an away match against Singapore in the second qualifying round of the North-China World Cup on June 6, when Lee Kang-in (Paris Saint-Germain) beat three defenders with a strong right-footed shot. Cho Kyu-sung (Mit Willan)'s header goal in the match against Saudi Arabia in the round of 16 at the Asian Cup ranked third (10%). Son Heung-min's goal against Palestine (7.8%), while Bae Joon-ho (3.6%), Oh Se-hoon (2.8%), and Lee Jae-sung (1.2%) also remained in the minds of fans. It was placed 5th to 7th.
Son Heung-min won the fan's goal honor of the year for the second consecutive year following 2023. In 2023, the mid-range shot score from the home game against Singapore in the second qualifying round for the North-China World Cup was selected as the goal of the year.
The Korea Football Association holds fan voting every year to select 'Goal of the Year' and 'Game of the Year' for the men's and women's national team games held at the end of the year. In the past, anonymous or duplicate voting was possible through web pages or SNS. From this vote, the vote was conducted with the participation of members who logged in to the PlayKFA platform.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
