Under-20 (U-20) soccer team coach Kim Eun-joong announced that he would overcome the regret of regaining the Asian Cup trophy after 11 years and make up for the shortcomings until the FIFA World Cup.
The U-20 soccer team, led by coach Kim, drew 0-0 with the host country Uzbekistan in the 2023 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-20 Asian Cup semi-final held at Milly Stadium in Tashkent, Uzbekistan on the 15th at 11:00 pm (Korean time). Afterwards, they lost 1-3 on penalties.
After 11 years since 2012, he aimed to win, but unfortunately was frustrated at the threshold of the finals. As the 3rd and 4th place matches were not held separately, the tournament ended in a tie for third place with Japan, which was defeated by Iraq.
Coach Kim acknowledged defeat through AFC, saying, “We did our best and prepared well for this tournament, but unfortunately today was not our day.”
Korea played 120 minutes in the quarterfinals against China on the 12th, until overtime. Uzbekistan also had a penalty shoot-out with Australia in the quarterfinals, but the match date was the 11th, so it was able to rest one more day than Korea.
Coach Kim said, “The players who played in the last game (against China) played overtime, so I made some changes. I thought it was better to give them a break. It was a little difficult,” but “Thank you for all working hard.”
“It’s the first time most of the players have played in front of such a large crowd. Although they lost in the penalty shootout, I think they were affected by the unfavorable environment,” he said. added. 메이저사이트
About 34,000 people filled the stands to support Uzbekistan, and cheered one-sidedly.
Although he failed to win his 13th championship in his career, he advanced to the semifinals and earned the right to participate in the U-20 World Cup held in Indonesia in May of this year. Including Korea, Uzbekistan, Iraq, and Japan are participating.
Korea won the runner-up in the previous 2019 tournament with the performances of Lee Kang-in (Mallorca), Oh Se-hoon (Shimizu), and Cho Young-wook (Seoul). It was the best performance by Korean male players in FIFA-sponsored competitions.
Coach Kim said, “All the teams that participated in this tournament were of high quality. I didn’t feel a big gap between the teams. This is good news for Asian football. I hope all countries participating in the World Cup will have a good game.”
He continued, “We will also check what parts are wrong and try to make up for what is lacking. We will make up for it until the World Cup begins.”
Kim Eun-joong will return to Korea via Incheon International Airport on the 17th.