Hwang Sun-hong, head coach of the U-23 national soccer team, expressed his expectation that the ‘Kriegers’ will show their skills amid the difficulties of overseas recruitment. He also emphasized the need to give it their all in the first match of the Group of Death.
Hwang’s side will look to qualify for their 10th consecutive Olympic Games when they take on the United Arab Emirates (UAE) at the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-23 Asian Cup 2024 at the Abdullah Bin Khalifa Stadium in Doha, Qatar on Sunday at 0:30 am in their Group B opener.
Only a top-three finish in the tournament will earn a direct ticket to the Paris Olympics.
If Hwang achieves this goal, South Korean soccer will become the first team in history to qualify for 10 consecutive Olympic Games.
At the pre-match press conference on Friday, Hwang said, “All the teams in our group are strong. We admit it’s a group of death,” he said, adding, “The first match is important. We have to give it our all.”
Sunghong is drawn in Group B with UAE, Japan and China.
“We will play every game as a team,” said Hwang. We will do our best throughout the tournament,” he said.
Hwang had been struggling to recruit overseas players until just before the tournament.
Initially, he called up Kim Min-woo (Düsseldorf), Yang Hyun-joon (Celtic), Sang Bin (Minnesota), Kim Ji-soo (Brentford), and Bae Jun-ho (Stoke City), but striker Yang Hyun-joon, defender Kim Ji-soo, and midfielder Bae Jun-ho were unable to join the team due to their clubs’ refusal to release them. “I went to Europe before the tournament and negotiated with them, but unfortunately they couldn’t join the team,” Hwang said, adding, “As a coach, it’s frustrating and unfortunate, but I have a lot of plans. It’s no problem,” he said. “I hope the players will become a 토토사이트 team, an organized team through the group stage. I expect our players who play in the K League to show their strengths and abilities throughout the tournament.”
At the helm of the UAE is Uruguayan coach Marcelo Broly. “We are facing a strong team, Korea,” said Brolly, who led Uruguay’s U-20 team to the FIFA U-20 World Cup title last year. “I played against Korea when I was in Uruguay, I know them,” he said. He traveled to South Korea last March as interim coach of the Uruguay A team. Brolly’s Uruguay beat South Korea 2-1 in a friendly against former coach Jürgen Klinsmann’s side at Seoul World Cup Stadium.