Tournament summary 2007 AFC Asian Cup

participating countries.

the asian cup saw many upsets in stages of tournament. in group a, oman held favourites australia surprising draw. oman took lead , have won save injury time goal tim cahill. next, hosts vietnam shocked gulf champions uae 2–0 victory. in same group, qatar held japan shock 1–1 draw. result caused japan coach ivica osim fly rage in branded players amateurs , reduced interpreter tears. in group d, indonesia continued undefeated streak of hosts defeating bahrain 2–1. malaysia ended host country drop match, losing china 5–1. thailand recorded 2nd win in asian cup finals (their other in 1972 against cambodia), , first ever win in regulation, when beat oman 2–0 on 12 july. meanwhile, australia upset 3–1 defeat against iraq following day, leaving them floundering in tournament despite high expectations.

in quarterfinals, iraq defeated vietnam 2–0, while south korea ( korea republic ) needed penalty shootout eliminate iran 4–2. japan needed penalty shootout defeat australia 4–3 (this first time australian keeper mark schwarzer had ever come out on losing end of penalty shoot-out), , saudi arabia won on uzbekistan 2–1. iraq upset south korea in semi-finals winning 4–3 on penalties, resulting in thousands of iraqis celebrating in streets of baghdad. on 50 iraqis killed terrorist bombs targeting these crowds. in other semi-finals, saudi arabia topped defending champions japan 3–2 make all-arab affair final match.

iraq went on defeat saudi arabia 1–0 taking asian cup title. iraqi forward , captain younis mahmoud given title of valuable player. south korea took third place narrowly beating japan in penalties 6–5. third consecutive match in tournament south korea played 0–0 before penalty shootout. iraq, saudi arabia, , south korea, top 3 national teams in tournament, received automatic berths 2011 asian cup along next hosts qatar. .