Young Taeguk Warriors look to top group at U-23 Asian Cup

Football

Published: 07 Jun. 2022, 16:54

Young Taeguk Warriors look to top group at U-23 Asian Cup

Cho Young-wook scores a goal during an AFC U-23 Asian Cup match against Malaysia at Lokomotiv Stadium in Tashkent, Uzbekistan on June 2. [YONHAP]

Cho Young-wook, center, celebrates with Lee Kang-in after scoring a goal during an AFC U-23 Asian Cup match against Malaysia at Lokomotiv Stadium in Tashkent, Uzbekistan on June 2. [YONHAP]

Korea, the reigning U-23 Asian Cup champions, will face Thailand on Wednesday in the final group stage match of the 2022 Cup with the top spot in Group C on the line.

Korea were drawn in Group C at the continental tournament alongside Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand. The young Taeguk Warriors started their tournament with a 4-1 win against Malaysia on June 2, before settling for a disappointing 1-1 draw against Vietnam on Sunday.

Korea will need to beat Thailand to guarantee their spot in the knockout stage.

Korea dominated the match against Malaysia, recording 28 shots, 10 of which were on target, while Malaysia had eight shots, two of which were on target.

Korea controlled most of the ball, reaching a 71 percent ball possession rate. Lee Sang-min scored Korea's first goal in the 31st minute then Kim Tae-hwan added the second goal in the 48th minute. Mukhairi Ajmal of Malaysia scored in the 83rd minute but Cho Young-wook fired back, scoring the next two goals in the 88th minute and during injury time.

However, Korea was unable to push forward against Vietnam on Sunday despite having many chances. Korea recorded 24 shots throughout the match, while Vietnam only had eight. Korea still struggled to get past the Vietnamese defense with Vietnam opting for long balls instead of short passes to escape the pressure from Korea.

Cho opened the scoring in the 63rd minute, marking his third goal of the tournament. However, 15 minutes later, Korea was cut down to 10 men as midfielder Lee Ji-yong was sent off with a second yellow. Vietnam took advantage of that one-man deficit, with Ve Tien Long scoring just five minutes later.

Left, head coach of the Korean U-23 team Hwang Sun-hong poses for a picture with head coach of the Vietnam U-23 team Gong Oh-kyun at Lokomotiv Stadium in Tashkent, Uzbekistan on Sunday. [NEWS1]

“I didn’t plan to play to a draw,” said Vietnam's head coach Gong Oh-kyun after the match. Gong played in the K League for 11 years and has coached the Korean U-17, U-20 and U-23 teams.

“I told my players from the beginning that we are playing to win. We didn’t want to play to a draw with Korea. I was a little worried before the match because we didn’t have enough time to prepare, but the players showed a great performance."

Cho Young-wook, second from right, celebrates after scoring a goal during an AFC U-23 Asian Cup match against Vietnam at Lokomotiv Stadium in Tashkent, Uzbekistan on Sunday. [YONHAP]

For Korea, it was a case of a missed opportunity as the young Taeguk Warriors had three times more shots than Vietnam.

“In a centralised competition like this, there are a lot of variables you have to control, and as the coach, I have failed to control them, which is the reason for the result,” said Korea's head coach Hwang Sun-hong.

“I don’t think Vietnam were necessarily lucky, this is football and anything can happen. The only difference was that I had to take appropriate measures with 10 players.

"My impression of this Vietnam team with the new coach is that they are very well organised with good team spirit, which is very impressive. I believe that coach Gong is creating a great team. If we ever meet each other in the future, it will be another great game."

Lee Kang-in, second from left, dribbles past Malaysia at Lokomotiv Stadium in Tashkent, Uzbekistan on June 2 during an AFC U-23 Asian Cup match. [NEWS1]

The disappointing result may be in part due to the absence of key players like Lee Kang-in who also plays as a midfielder for the La Liga club Mallorca.

“Lee Kang-in had a slight injury so he couldn’t play, and I didn’t want to put too much pressure on him,” Hwang said.

“I also wanted to test our options with player combinations, since they all have different physical conditions. I expected the match to be difficult and the players did their best.”

Korea has finished within the top four at every single AFC U-23 Asian Cup since the tournament was founded in 2013. That year, Korea finished fourth after losing to Jordan on penalties in the third-place playoff.

In 2016, Korea lost 3-2 to Japan in the final to finish in second place, before again slipping back to fourth in 2018 when they dropped the third-place playoff to Qatar, 1-0.

In 2020, Korea shot through the entire tournament without dropping a single game, beating Saudi Arabia 1-0 in the final to take the Asian Cup.

Korea is currently tied with Thailand in Group C with one win and one tie. Korea will need to beat Thailand on Wednesday to safely advance to the quarterfinals this weekend.

Korea is scheduled to face Thailand on Wednesday at 6 p.m. at the Pakhtakor Central Stadium in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, or at 10 p.m. in Korea.

BY YUN SO-HYANG [yun.sohyang@joongang.co.kr]