Korea looks for two titles as 2022 EAFF E-1 championship kicks off Tuesday

Football

Published: 18 Jul. 2022, 15:48

Korea looks for two titles as 2022 EAFF E-1 championship kicks off Tuesday

Cho Gue-sung, left, and Kwon Chang-hoon celebrate after Kwon scored a goal for Korea in a friendly against Egypt at Seoul World Cup Stadium in Mapo District, western Seoul on June 14. [YONHAP]

The 2022 EAFF E-1 Football Championship kicks off Tuesday, with both the Korean men's and women's teams looking to win the four-team, week-long tournament.

The EAFF E-1 Championship is typically played every two or three years, with this year's tournament set to take place in Japan from July 18 to July 27. The tournament is hosted by the East Asian Football Federation, the governing body of association football in East Asia.

Korea, Japan and China each have a guaranteed spot at the E-1 Championship, with one additional team entered either by winning a qualifying tournament or, as is this case this year, based on FIFA rankings. The tournament is played in a round robin tournament.

The Korean men's squad enter the tournament as defending champions and the most successful team in the competition's history, having won five of eight titles. The women's squad have a less storied history at the event, having won only once in 2005.

The fourth spot in the men's tournament this year goes to Hong Kong, who, at No. 145 on the FIFA World Ranking, are the fifth-highest ranked club in East Asia and earn a berth after North Korea withdrew from competition. Chinese Taipei, at No. 39 in the world, join the women's championship for the same reason.

Ji So-yun, right, celebrates with her teammates after Cho So-hyun scored a goal against the Philippines in the semifinals of the 2022 AFC Women's Asian Cup in India on Feb. 3. [NEWS1]

The Taeguk Ladies will kick off their tournament first, competing in the opening game against Japan at 4 p.m. on Tuesday at Kashima Stadium in Kashima, Japan. The women's team will then face China on July 23, before wrapping up their tournament with a game against Chinese Taipei on July 26.

Korea enter the E-1 Football Championship as the second-highest ranked team in the women's tournament, at No. 18 on the FIFA rankings, five spots below Japan's No. 13.

The men's team will start their competition on Wednesday as they take on China at 7 p.m. at Toyota Stadium in Toyota, Japan. They will then face Hong Kong on July 24 and round off the tournament with a game against Japan on July 27.

The E-1 Championship is not played during an official FIFA international break, meaning that clubs are not required to release their players to compete. This is not a problem for players based in leagues within the competing countries, which will reschedule games for the tournament, but rules out the vast majority of players based further afield, including those playing for top European clubs.

For the Korean women's team, this really only means that Brighton & Hove striker Lee Geum-min is absent, with Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Cho So-hyun permitted to join the national squad and former Chelsea midfielder Ji So-yun moving to the Korean WK League ahead of the tournament. That allows Korea to play at almost full strength as they look to snap a 17-year cold streak at the tournament.

For the men's team, however, the changes are far more obvious.

The loss of the Taeguk Warriors' overseas-based players has left head coach Paulo Bento with a heavily stripped-back squad. Go-to goalkeeper Kim Seung-gyu, defender Kim Min-jae, midfielders Son Heung-min, Hwang Hee-chan, Lee Jae-sung, Jung Woo-young and Jeong Woo-yeong and forward Hwang Ui-jo are all absent as they return to league duties overseas.

In their absence, Bento is left with all his best veterans in defense — Kim Jin-su, Hong Chul and Kim Young-gwon — with Kwon Chang-hoon and Hwang In-beom as the sole seasoned players on the offensive side.

That doesn't mean Bento won't have any tricks up his sleeve. On a good day, Kwon is a solid midfielder and a confident goal scorer, while young forwards Cho Gue-sung and Cho Young-wook are both rapidly rising stars — Cho Gue-sung entering the tournament having scores last week for the K League in an exhibition game against Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur.

The EAFF E-1 could also give Bento a chance to mix things up a bit, with seven members of the squad having never appeared for the national team before.

For both the men's and women's teams, the 2022 EAFF E-1 Football Championship is an important tune-up tournament ahead of their respective World Cups. The 2022 FIFA World Cup kicks off on Nov. 21 in Qatar, while the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup follows starting July 20 in Australia and New Zealand.

BY JIM BULLEY [jim.bulley@joongang.co.kr]