Hwang Sun-hong, who almost lost to China, is also in danger of a Korea-Japan match before dreaming of a “single dream” for the Olympic finals

It was a poor performance to be considered as a team aiming for 10 consecutive Olympic finals. Unless Hwang Sun-hong quickly closes the loophole in the match against China, there is no guarantee of an immediate victory in the Korea-Japan match, let alone the Olympic finals.

The South Korean U-23 national team, led by head coach Hwang Sun-hong, will face Japan in the final Group B match of the 2024 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-23 Qatar Asian Cup at 10 p.m. on the 22nd (Korea time).

The U-23 Asian Cup will also serve as a preliminary match for men’s soccer for the 2024 Paris Olympics, with 3.5 tickets to the Olympic finals at stake. This is a very important competition for Korean men’s soccer, which aims to become the world’s first team to advance to the finals for 10 consecutive Olympics. The third place finisher will advance to the finals in Paris, while the fourth place finisher will have an intercontinental playoff against Guinea, which is ranked fourth in Africa.

Korea and Japan have already secured six points by winning two consecutive games and advancing to the quarterfinals. The match will determine the winner of the group.

Although South Korea won its first two consecutive games, it was barely won by Lee Young-joon’s goal in the 4th minute of extra time in the second half after an empty ball in the first match against the UAE, and Lee Young-joon’s multi-goal victory in the second match against China showed such a disastrous performance that it was not strange to lose.

An unexpected anxiety gripped Korea from the beginning. In the 15th minute of the first half, Chinese striker Behram Abdouwali stole the ball from Korean defender Suh Myung-kwan and took a right-footed shot from inside the Korean penalty box. If it were not for goalkeeper Kim Jung-hoon’s defense, he could have lost a point. In the 18th minute of the first half, Chinese captain Tao Qianglong took a low cross from the right with a right-footed direct shot, hitting the net on the right side of the Korean net.

Abdouwali’s right-footed turning shot at the gate in the 21st minute of the first half was also a scene that could have led to Korea’s loss if it had been a little more accurate. In the 24th minute of the first half, China’s counterattack led to Kim Jung-hoon’s left footed shot to the far post, which barely prevented Xie Wen-ying from entering the center of the box from taking a left-footed shot to the far post. Korea often exposed the back space as it failed to return quickly to defense during counterattacks from the opponent team.

In the 24th minute of the second half, an inaccurate back pass by Hwang Jae-won, a right-handed defender, passed Byun Joon-soo and passed to Xie Wenlong of China. However, Kim once again blocked the opponent’s right foot shot.

On the surface, Korea won 2-0, but if you look closely, it would not be strange to lose. Had the Chinese players’ finishing shots been a little more accurate, they made defense mistakes and allowed back space several times, allowing three or four goals.

China lost the first match against Japan 0-1 despite having an early numerical advantage due to the opponent’s exit. No matter how “Group of Death” it is, given that Korea and Japan are leading candidates for the quarterfinals, it was not something to be taken lightly that China gave up numerous scoring opportunities on the day.

Korea will now play the final group match and the match between Korea and Japan, which will determine the group rankings. If Korea loses and advances to the quarterfinals as the second-ranked team in Group B, it is highly likely that it will meet Qatar, the current top-ranked team in Group A and the host country, which will receive enthusiastic support from its home audience, in the quarterfinals,

Japan has convened five overseas players, including Benfica’s goalie Kokubo Bryan, Düsseldorf’s flanker Takashi Uchino, and Werder Bremen’s midfielder Satoru Kane, for the upcoming U-23 Asian Cup. He seems to have put a lot of effort into it, just like Korea. 노래방알바

It is fortunate that China, which has a poor decisiveness, has not been able to finish, but the Olympic finals could be a distant story if South Korea fails to make up for it in the match against Japan and makes a series of similar mistakes.