"Into the quarterfinals with just one goal? We have no right to mock China"... Since when did Korea end up 'competing' with China?

[Financial News] It is devastating. Korean football, which once called itself the "Tigers of Asia," now finds itself standing shoulder to shoulder—if not lower—with China, a team long said to suffer from so-called "Korea-phobia."
In fact, if we coolly look only at the group-stage results of this tournament, we have done worse than China.
The China under-23 national football team drew 0-0 with Thailand in their final group match on the 14th after a poor performance. They were under Thailand’s pressure for most of the game and even faced the risk of an own goal, but they held on. With that, China finished with one win and two draws (5 points), an unbeaten record, and took second place in Group D, achieving the milestone of reaching the knockout stage for the first time in their history.
Chinese football played thoroughly pragmatic football at this tournament, the so-called "swamp football" approach. They scored just one goal in three matches, but in return did not concede a single goal, earning a quarterfinal ticket with suffocating defense. Head coach Antonio Puche’s defensive football may be criticized as boring, but it delivered results.
Korea, on the other hand, finished with one win, one draw and one loss (4 points), trailing China even on points. While China held out with a "no goals conceded" record, Korea’s defensive organization collapsed, conceding two goals to the Uzbekistan national football team and two more to Lebanon. We are in no position to laugh at China’s so-called "time-wasting" or "defensive" football.
What is even more miserable is the shifting landscape of Asian football. Our rivals Japan are looking down at us from on high with three wins from three and no goals conceded. Vietnam, led by head coach Kim Sang-sik, who has followed in the footsteps of the "Park Hang-seo magic," also soared by topping their group with three wins from three.
Yet only Korea has become entangled with China, barely squeezing through the quarterfinals gate. At a time when we should be competing while looking up at Japan, we now look as if we are locked in a contest with China over "who is worse."

Is it fate’s cruel joke? Korea’s quarterfinal opponent is Australia, while China’s is Uzbekistan. A "comparison match" has been set up, with the last remaining pride of Korean football on the line.
China beat Australia 1-0 in the group stage. What if Korea fail to get past Australia in the quarterfinals? Then the syllogism becomes: "Korea lost to Australia, Australia lost to China, therefore Korea are weaker than China." It would be a humiliating scenario even to imagine.
Conversely, what if China perform well against Uzbekistan? Korea were beaten 0-2 by the Uzbekistan national football team. If China play them on equal terms or even beat them, it would amount to publicly certifying to the world that Korea are a worse team than China.
Korean football are no longer in any position to criticize or look down on China.
If we fail to beat Australia on the 18th, we will have to admit that we have not only fallen short of winning a fourth straight Asian Games title, but have also dropped to the level of a "second-tier" team in Asia—or worse, a "third-tier" side below China.
The match against Australia is not just a semifinal qualifier. It is a bitter fight for survival to protect the crumbling pride of Korean football, and to prove at the very least that we are still better than China.
jsi@fnnews.com Jeon Sang-il Reporter