Jeonbuk Motors boss Choi Kang-hee felt that fate was against him once the two teams had entered into extra time. He was pleasantly surprised when Lee Dong-gook scored in extra time to now see his team progress to the last eight with a 3-2 win at Adelaide United.

Jeonbuk led 2-1 deep into stoppage time thanks to Eninho’s double before Sergio van Dijk scored a dramatic equaliser with the last kick of the game.

Lee then saw an effort come back off the underside of the bar and scrambled away before the former Middlesbrough striker beat Eugene Galekovic with a header just moments later to clinch victory

“At full time they were very disappointed and I had to calm them down. I had to make sure they were prepared to go back out and play extra time and were fully concentrated.

“When Dong-Gook’s shot was saved I thought we would be going to penalties. I was thinking this is not our day…the ball just won’t go in. Then to have him score a header soon after was a relief.

“Both teams gave everything. As a game of football it was exciting to watch. The Adelaide team showed a very good game and everyone tried their best.”

Choi added that the extra build up to the game particularly in terms of fitness work had made the difference when the teams entered extra time.

Reds Joe Mullen was happy with the team’s performance and commitment, even if they didn’t win the game tonight.

“Obviously the result is very hard to take,” he said.

“To be honest I thought we played some really good football and I thought the team did exceptionally well. They showed great character tonight, to comeback, twice, full credit to them.

“The result of course didn’t go our way but I thought they did their football club, their city and the A-League proud tonight.”