Bronze medallists in London 2012, Korea Republic have featured in every Olympics since Seoul hosted the 1988 Games and Cho, who turns 22 on Saturday, wants to celebrate his birthday by helping the East Asian side confirm qualification by winning Wednesday’s AFC U23 Championship Thailand 2020 semi-final against Australia.

The top three teams in Thailand 2020 will join Japan as Asia’s representatives in the Tokyo Games and Cho is determined to help see Korea Republic past Australia - which will seal qualification - before aiming for the title in Sunday’s final.

Three of the four teams will earn tickets to Tokyo 2020 with Uzbekistan the most impressive side in the quarter-finals, with the defending champions coming from behind to storm past a strong United Arab Emirates 5-1 in their last eight tie.

Lee Dong-gyeong's sublime free-kick in the fifth minute of added time gave Korea Republic a last-gasp win over a brave Jordan, while Saudi Arabia advanced thanks to Abdullah Al Hamdan's 78th minute penalty against Thailand.

Australia needed extra time to see off Syria, with substitute Al Hassan Toure scoring in the 101st minute to take the Olyroos through. the-AFC.com takes a look at what awaits in Wednesday's semi-finals.

After being introduced to the action at half-time, Lee Dong-gyeong stroked home a late free-kick to win the game for the East Asians who had been forced to hold off a late Jordanian rally.

With a last four encounter against Australia now awaiting Korea Republic, Kim declared that he had always intended to turn to his bench as the game progressed.

The Central Asians produced their best performance of the tournament to defeat United Arab Emirates 5-1 and Kobilov wants them to carry that form into Wednesday’s semi-final against Saudi Arabia. 

What made the win over UAE even more commendable was that Uzbekistan recovered from conceding an early goal to ultimately cruise to victory, with five different players etching their names on the scoresheet.

Albrikan displayed tremendous composure as he back-heeled the ball into the back of the net as Saudi Arabia won the tie 1-0 to finish as Group B winners.

Saudi Arabia defeated hosts Thailand in the quarter-finals and are now set to face defending champions Uzbekistan in the last four on Wednesday.

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Abdullah Al Hamdan’s late penalty took Saudi Arabia into the semi-finals to leave them one win away from securing a place at the Olympic tournament for the first time since 1996, but it was the performance of the rearguard that Al Shehri preferred to highlight.

Regulation time failed to break the deadlock and it took a moment of magic from substitute Al Hassan Toure in the 102nd minute for the Olyroos to claim a 1-0 victory to advance to their first AFC U23 Championship semi-finals.

Arnold, who also manages the Socceroos, acknowledged the difficulty his side faced and revealed he was forced to make several strategic adjustments through the 120 minutes and praised his players for their ability to adapt.