Klinsmann praises South Korea response in last-gasp Asian Cup draw
Jurgen Klinsmann praised his players' response after South Korea avoided a major Asian Cup upset by the skin of their teeth in a 2-2 draw with Jordan on Saturday.
One day after Iraq beat tournament favourites Japan, the Koreans needed an injury-time own goal to salvage a point in Doha after Jordan had roared back from an early Son Heung-min penalty.
Klinsmann said the Group E encounter had been "very good to experience" as he targets South Korea's first Asian Cup triumph in 64 years.
"We expected a difficult game and we got a difficult game," said the German World Cup winner, with qualification for the last 16 still well within grasp not yet secured.
"After the leading goal we took the tempo out of the game, which was not very good, and we lost a lot of one-on-one battles.
"Those are the games that you learn a lot from."
Son fired South Korea in front from the spot in the ninth minute but a Park Yong-woo own goal and a Yazan Al-Naimat strike put Jordan ahead at halftime.
South Korea did not look like scoring for much of the second half but grabbed an equaliser when Yazan Al-Arab deflected Hwang In-beom's shot into his own net in the first minute of injury time at the end of the game.
A win for either team would have sent them through to the knockout rounds with a game to spare.
Klinsmann's side beat Bahrain 3-1 in their opening match and face Malaysia in their final group game on Thursday.
"It's important to see that when things don't work out how the players react," said Klinsmann.
"That was what I was really pleased with."
Skipper Son dismissed the idea that the pressure of trying to win the Asian title after so long had got to him and his teammates.
"There's always pressure when you play for Spurs or the national team
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