Asian Cup despair for Son Heung-min and South Korea

Title contenders beaten in the quarter-finals in Abu Dhabi 1-0 by Qatar

South Korea's forward Heung-min Son (R) is marked by Qatar's midfielder Abdelaziz Hatim during the 2019 AFC Asian Cup quarter-final football match between South Korea and Qatar at Zayed Sports City in Abu Dhabi on January 25, 2019.  / AFP / Khaled DESOUKI
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It was a case of bad news for South Korea but good news for Tottenham Hotspur as the former were knocked out of the Asian Cup on Friday evening in Abu Dhabi.

Abdelaziz Hatim's curling effort with 12 minutes remaining gave Qatar a shock 1-0 victory and ended the hopes of the Koreans.

Kim Jin-su hit the post with a free-kick before Qatar had taken the lead and Hwang Ui-Jo found the net seconds after they had gone behind, but he was adjudged to be fractionally off-side.

Qatar, as they did against Iraq in the last 16, played a waiting game. They held their nerves to keep the Korean attack at bay and then opened up in the second half to triumph.

South Korea will now depart the UAE and Son will head back to his Premier League side Tottenham, and if Sunday's FA Cup tie at Crystal Palace is too soon for him then Wednesday's home game with Watford should certainly be do-able for him to feature for the London side.

Qatar will now face the winners of UAE or Australia in the semi-finals on Tuesday at the Mohamed bin Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.