After Australia's elimination against Argentina on Saturday, the other two Asian teams will also play for the quarter-finals today. While Japan are considered to have a pretty good chance of progressing against Croatia, South Korea will play against the favoured Brazil.
Data analysis by 11Hacks data experts shows that South Korea creates the highest number of chances from both wing areas, being very dangerous especially from the left one. One of the most important men of coach Paul Bent's selection is left back Jin-Su Kim, who is one of the most frequent crossers in the tournament.
He sends an average of 5 balls into the opponent's box per game in this way, the same as Borna Sosa of Croatia and Antonee Robinson of the USA. The only one more active in this respect was the German David Raum, who left a very good impression at the tournament.
Moreover, Jin-Su's crosses are very accurate and create good shooting opportunities. In the metric of expected assists, only Sergino Dest, Thomas Meunier and the aforementioned Raum are better among the full backs. Neither of them will improve their stats at the tournament.
Brazil has to be very careful in dead ball situations. The data metrics for expected goals show that only nine other teams have created more valuable chances from corners and direct free kicks.
The star Heung-Min Son, who is complemented by the twenty-one-year-old offensive midfielder of Spanish Mallorca Kang-in Lee, is mainly responsible for their execution. On the receiving side, three names in particular stand out - centre backs Min-Jae Kim and Young-Gwon Kim and striker Gue-Sung Cho. These three are the ones who get into the end zone most often.
The Koreans have the 8th highest overall header success rate in the tournament. They excel even more when looking at the success rate of defensive aerial duels, where they are the 6th best. In offensive ones, they are 10th.
Moreover, their players read the game well in the final third of the pitch and even have the highest success rate in collecting rebounds in these spaces. Brazil, on the other hand, look vulnerable in the air. For example, their defensive header success rate is the lowest of all teams.
South Korea also has quality results in several other data metrics. If a team in the opponent's half loses the ball, they win it back within 10 seconds 24.50% of the time, the sixth best result of the tournament. Brazil's pressing efficiency is similar, and so far they are one position above their eighth-final opponents.
The Koreans can also threaten from the break. So far in the tournament they are averaging 4 per game, which puts them in sixth place behind Germany, France, Portugal, Brazil and Iran.
If we were to single out one individual whose name has been mentioned throughout this article, the choice would fall on stopper Min-Jae. The Napoli player has been one of the most dominant defenders of the entire tournament so far. He wins 85.71% of his header duels on the field, gets a large number of balls and has not fouled once so far. In addition, he is excellent at crossing and thus perfectly replicates his performances from the club scene.
Min-Jae's skills will be needed - more than ever - on both sides of the pitch today. His team secured qualification to the eighth round with a goal in the set-up against Portugal. Can he surprise another favourite today?
