Group A of the 2015 AFC Asian Cup was one of four groups of nations competing at the 2015 AFC Asian Cup. The group's first round of matches were played on 9 and 10 January, the second round on 13 January, and the final round on 17 January. All six group matches were played at venues in Australia. The group consisted of hosts Australia, South Korea, Oman and Kuwait. South Korea and Australia advanced as group winners and runners-up respectively, while Oman and Kuwait were eliminated.
Teams Draw position Team Method ofqualification Date ofqualification Finalsappearance Lastappearance Previous bestperformance FIFA Rankings March 2014 Start of event A1 5 January 2011 3rd 2011 Runners-up (2011) 63 100 A2 2011 AFC Asian Cup third place 28 January 2011 13th 2011 Winners (1956, 1960) 60 69 A3 Group A winners 19 November 2013 3rd 2007 Group stage (2004, 2007) 81 93 A4 Group B runners-up 19 November 2013 10th 2011 Winners (1980) 110 125
Notes
Standings
In the quarter-finals: South Korea advanced to play Uzbekistan (runner-up of Group B). Australia advanced to play China PR (winner of Group B).
Matches Australia vs Kuwait
Hussain Fadhel's eighth-minute header briefly dampened spirits at a sold-out Melbourne Rectangular Stadium only for Massimo Luongo to set up Tim Cahill to equalise with his 37th international goal, 12 minutes before half-time. After Luongo headed home his first for the Socceroos at the end of the first half, a penalty from captain Mile Jedinak two minutes after the hour mark and a late strike from James Troisi secured all three points for the 2011 AFC Asian Cup finalists in the Group A opener. Looking to build on reaching the final of the last edition in Qatar, Australia made a bright start on a chilly evening, but the home side were stunned after just eight minutes as Fadhel stooped at the near post to direct a diving header from Abdulaziz Al Masha'an's right wing corner low past goalkeeper Mathew Ryan having broken clear of defender Trent Sainsbury. Australia were able to double their advantage two minutes after the hour mark as captain Jedinak confidently sent Hameed Youssef the wrong way from the penalty spot after Robbie Kruse had been upended by Sultan Al Enezi just inside the area.
Kuwait came close to setting up a tense finish as only a finger-tip save from Ryan turned Fahad Al Ansari's superb 71st minute effort onto the crossbar, before Australia substitute Nathan Burns followed suit soon after with an acrobatic glancing header at the other end. But it was Australia who looked the more likely to add to their lead and Troisi's close range finish in stoppage time sealed an ultimately impressive victory for the home side.
The win meant that Australia had become the first host since Singapore back in 1984 to win the opening game of the tournament. For Kuwait, the country has failed to register a win since the 3–1 victory over the United Arab Emirates back in 2004.
GK 1 Mathew RyanRB 2 Ivan FranjićCB 20Trent SainsburyCB 6 Matthew SpiranovicLB 13Aziz BehichDM 15Mile Jedinak (c)RM 10Robbie Kruse CM 21Massimo Luongo LM 7 Mathew LeckieCF 14James TroisiCF 4 Tim Cahill Substitutions:FW 9 Tomi Juric FW 16Nathan Burns MF 23Mark Bresciano Manager:Ange Postecoglou GK 23Hameed YoussefRB 5 Fahed Al HajriCB 4 Hussain Fadhel CB 13Musaed Neda (c)LB 6 Khaled Al Qahtani RM 8 Saleh Al SheikhCM 11Fahad Al AnsariCM 12Sultan Al EneziLM 21Ali MaqseedCF 10Abdulaziz Al Masha'an CF 16Faisal Zaid Substitutions:DF 2 Amer Al Fadhel FW 20Yousef Nasser FW 17Bader Al-Mutawa Manager: Nabil Maâloul
Man of the Match: Massimo Luongo (Australia)
Assistant referees: Abdukhamidullo Rasulov (Uzbekistan) Bakhadyr Kochkarov (Kyrgyzstan) Fourth official: Mohd Amirul Izwan Yaacob (Malaysia) Fifth official: Mohd Yusri Muhamad (Malaysia)
South Korea vs Oman Third place finishers in 2011, South Korea were on top for much of the first period but at half-time had only Cho Young-cheol's stoppage time goal to show for their control of proceedings. A flurry of attacking substitutions in the final 30 minutes did see Oman threaten to level the game, notably through Amad Al-Hosni who had a header tipped onto the crossbar in added time, but South Korea held on to move into second place behind Australia. With a rainy conditions in the Australian capital, South Korea had their first chance on five minutes as midfielder Koo Ja-cheol cut in from the left-hand side and fired in a shot from the edge of the penalty area that Ali Al-Habsi got down low to his right to tip around the post. Two minutes later, Son Heung-min latched on to a long ball over the top from Kim Chang-soo and lifted the ball over Al-Habsi, only to see it bounce off the top of the crossbar and away from danger. Defender Jaber Al-Owaisi had a chance to put Oman ahead against the run of play but turned his header well over the bar from Eid Al-Farsi's corner on 12th minutes. Although, South Korea began to stamp their authority on the game, with six minutes of the half remaining Kim Ju-young brought down Abdulaziz Al-Muqbali and from 20 yards out Al Farsi bent the ball marginally wide of the far post. As the match neared the half-time interval, South Korea scored the opening goal they had long threatened. Al-Habsi had already athletically turned away his own defender Abdul Salam Al-Mukhaini's unintentional header and kept out a long-range free-kick from Son but he was beaten a minute into first half stoppage time.Asian Cup: South Korea edges Oman 1-0 as Cho Young-cheol nets first international goal
Lee Chung-yong pounced on a loose ball and laid the ball off to Koo and the midfielder's left footed shot from outside the area was beaten out by Al-Habsi only as far as a sliding Cho who forced the ball back across the wrong-footed goalkeeper and into the opposite corner from close range. South Korea continued as they had left off after the break and four minutes after the restart, Lee drove a low shot into the side netting and then Al-Habsi pulled off a fine reaction save to tip over Koo's header from point-blank range.
Oman coach Paul Le Guen made attacking replacements in the final half hour by bringing on Al-Hosni and Mohsin Al-Khaldi in an attempt to restore parity and on 76th minutes Al-Muqbali had a golden chance to equalize when Ali Al-Busaidi picked him out all alone in the penalty area but the forward's first touch was poor and South Korea cleared their lines. The West Asians continued to put in an improved performance thereafter as South Korea sat back, and in stoppage time Al-Hosni's goal-bound header from a corner was dramatically touched onto the crossbar by Kim Jin-hyeon as Uli Stielike's side narrowly escaped to take all three points.South Korea complains about Canberra weather ahead of clash with heat-hardened OmanAsian Cup: South Korea beats Oman 1-0 at Asian Cup
GK 23Kim Jin-hyeonRB 2 Kim Chang-soo CB 4 Kim Ju-youngCB 20Jang Hyun-sooLB 3 Kim Jin-suCM 6 Park Joo-hoCM 16Ki Sung-yueng (c)RW 17Lee Chung-yong AM 13Koo Ja-cheolLW 7 Son Heung-minCF 9 Cho Young-cheol Substitutions:DF 22Cha Du-ri FW 18Lee Jung-hyup MF 12Han Kyo-won Manager: Uli Stielike GK 1 Ali Al-Habsi (c)CB 13Abdulsalam Al-MukhainiCB 3 Jaber Al-Owaisi CB 2 Mohammed Al-MusalamiRWB 6 Raed Ibrahim SalehLWB 16Ali Al-BusaidiRM 7 Mohammed Al-Siyabi CM 12Ahmed Mubarak Al-MahaijriCM 8 Eid Al-FarsiLM 10Qasim Said CF 9 Abdulaziz Al-Muqbali Substitutions:FW 20Amad Al-Hosni MF 21Mohsin Al-Khaldi FW 23Said Al-Ruzaiqi Manager: Paul Le Guen
Man of the Match: Koo Ja-cheol (South Korea)
Assistant referees: Jan-Hendrik Hintz (New Zealand) Mark Rule (New Zealand) Fourth official: Yudai Yamamoto (Japan) Fifth official: Najah Raham Alhamaidah (Iraq)
Kuwait vs South Korea A goal from Nam Tae-hee meant South Korea would later join Australia, 4-0 winners over Oman, as the first teams to book themselves a place in the tournament's quarter-finals after they defeated Kuwait 1–0 at Canberra Stadium. The midfielder's breakthrough came on 35 minutes from a bullet header but Kuwait would once again be ruing the woodwork after they hit the post early in the second half through Ali Maqseed after having similar misfortune in their opening loss to Australia in the opening match.
Kuwait were eliminated from the tournament and would be playing for pride against Oman in their final group stage tie at Newcastle Stadium after their defeat in Australia's capital. Ahead of the game, both coaches had rung the changes with Uli Stielike bringing in seven new starters due to a swathe of injuries and illness to key players including Lee Chung-yong and Son Heung-min. Kuwait, too, also saw new faces at both ends of the field with defenders Amer Al Fadhel and Fahad Awadh coming in, as well as forwards Abdullah Al Buraiki and Yousef Nasser, all four making their first starts of the campaign. Having lost their Group A opener, the onus was on Kuwait to attack but their early attempts were snuffed out by the Korean backline as the first period began in cagey fashion with little goal-mouth action. But by the half hour mark, the match finally came into life as Kim Min-woo sent Lee Keun-ho through on goal, but Kuwait goalkeeper Hameed Youssef stood up well to get a hand to the Korean striker's attempted lob and he batted the ball over the crossbar.Asian Cup 2015: South Korea seal qualification with 1-0 win over KuwaitSouth Korea make seven changes for Kuwait clash
The warning was not heeded by Kuwait and in their next attack the Koreans took the lead. Kim Min-woo found Cha Du-ri on the right flank and the full back set off on a lung-busting run before whipping in a cross that was met by a towering header from Nam that Youssef could not keep out. The breakthrough sent confidence flowing through the East Asians and they easily played out the remainder of the first period. But the Korean's composure was almost shattered within the first three minutes of the second half as Al Maqseed hit a sublime shot from the right-hand corner of the penalty area that had Kim Seung-gyu beaten as it clattered off the far post. With the second half turning into an exciting end-to-end spectacle, Nam then went close with his own long-range special as he cut inside and drove a low shot narrowly wide of Youssef's left-hand post on the hour mark, before Al Maqseed then went close again after checking inside Jang Hyun-soo and curling inches over the Korean crossbar. Coach Nabil Maâloul threw on star forward Bader Al-Mutawa with just under half an hour remaining as Kuwait pushed for a leveler but it was Korea who went closest to netting next as Kim Min-woo forced a solid save from Youssef as he unleashed an angled drive from inside of the penalty area following a one-two with Lee Keun-ho.South Korea survive scare from Kuwait with 1-0 win in Canberra
Abdulaziz Al Misha'an went close with a near post attempt before Park Joo-ho and Lee Jung-hyup both had efforts well-saved as the game ended in frenetic fashion with neither team able to make further incursions into the scoreline as Korean fans celebrated in the stands.Asian Cup: Reshuffled South Korea lineup beats Kuwait 1-0
GK 23Hameed YoussefRB 2 Amer Al FadhelCB 5 Fahed Al HajriCB 13Musaed Neda (c)LB 3 Fahad Awadh RM 9 Abdullah Al Buraiki CM 11Fahad Al AnsariLM 12Sultan Al Enezi AM 21Ali MaqseedAM 10Abdulaziz Al Masha'anCF 20Yousef Nasser Substitutions:FW 17Bader Al-Mutawa MF 16Faisal Zaid FW 15Faisal Al Enezi Manager: Nabil Maâloul GK 21Kim Seung-gyuRB 22Cha Du-ri CB 20Jang Hyun-soo CB 19Kim Young-gwonLB 3 Kim Jin-suRM 15Lee Myung-joo CM 16Ki Sung-yueng (c)LM 6 Park Joo-hoRF 10Nam Tae-hee CF 11Lee Keun-hoLF 8 Kim Min-woo Substitutions:FW 9 Cho Young-cheol FW 18Lee Jung-hyup MF 14Han Kook-young Manager: Uli Stielike
Man of the Match: Abdulaziz Al Misha'an (Kuwait)
Assistant referees: Reza Sokhandan (Iran) Mohammad Reza Abolfazli (Iran) Fourth official: Yudai Yamamoto (Japan) Fifth official: Najah Alhamaidah (Iraq)
Oman vs Australia