‘U-23 first win in Asian Cup’ Coach Hwang Seon-hong “We did it with the players’ will”

1-0 win in the first group match against UAE

Hwang Seon-hong, coach of the Korean soccer Olympic team, was delighted with the first win in the group stage of the '2024 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-23 Asian Cup'.

Korea, led by Coach Hwang, scored in the 49th minute of the second half of the Group B match against the United Arab Emirates (UAE) held at 0:30 a.m. (Korean time) on the 17th at the Abdullah Bin Khalifa Stadium in Doha, Qatar. Thanks to a dramatic winning goal, they won 1-0.

With victory that day, Korea increased its chances of advancing to the Olympic finals for the 10th consecutive time. With the second-place group advancing to the quarterfinals, Korea started tied for the lead in Group B along with Japan, which defeated China 1-0.

This competition also serves as an Asian qualifier for the Paris Olympics, which will open in July. In this competition, in which a total of 16 countries participate, only those ranked in the top 3 will be eligible to participate in the Paris Olympics. The 4th place team must play a playoff against Guinea, the 4th place team in the African qualifiers.

Starting with the 1988 Seoul Olympics, Korean soccer advanced to the Olympic finals nine times in a row until the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, breaking its own world record for the most consecutive Olympic appearances. If this trip to Paris is confirmed, the record can be increased to 10.

Winning the first game is very positive for Hwang Seon-hong, who is in a group with UAE, Japan, and China and is going through a difficult group stage journey.

Coach Hwang gave a general review of the game through AFC after the game, saying, “The first game in any competition is always difficult because there are many variables,” and “We had a difficult game today, but we made it through the players’ will.” He continued, “In the second half, we changed our attack plan. (At first) I tried to use the space between the second and third lines, but it was ineffective and did not meet my expectations,” he said. “(I suddenly changed my plan), but the players played according to my (changed) plan. “I want to praise this part,” he said, praising the players. Lee Young-jun, who scored the winning goal, also said, “I trained on set pieces, and I’m really happy that I scored as I prepared. “I’m even happier that I didn’t score this goal alone, but through teamwork,” he said. He then expressed his gratitude to Tae-seok Lee (FC Seoul), who assisted in the winning goal, saying, “I would also like to say thank you to my teammate (Lee) Tae-seok, who delivered an accurate cross to me.” Meanwhile, Hwang Seon-Hong will play the second match of the group stage against China at the same venue at 10 p.m. on the 19th. 고스톱