Young footballers arrive at Asiad with a lot more than just a medal on the line

Football

Published: 18 Sep. 2023, 15:05 Updated: 22 Sep. 2023, 10:28

Young footballers arrive at Asiad with a lot more than just a medal on the line

The U-24 Korean national team trains at the Paju National Football Center in Paju, Gyeonggi on Thursday ahead of the Hangzhou Asian Games. [NEWS1]

The Korean U-24 team begin their bid to win a third consecutive Asian Games gold medal Tuesday as the young Taeguk Warriors face Kuwait in the first game of the group stage.

The Hangzhou Asian Games starts Saturday in China, but the football schedule begins four days early due to time constraints and concerns about player fitness.

This year’s Asiad football teams’ age limit has also been raised from 23 to 24 due to the one-year postponement caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The national team led by manager Hwang Sun-hong includes players mostly from the K League like Um Won-sang of Ulsan Hyundai and Hwang Jae-won of Daegu FC, in addition to a few Europe-based players: Jeong Woo-yeong of VfB Stuttgart, Hong Hyun-seok of KAA Gent and Park Kyu-hyun of SG Dynamo Dresden.

Jeong will likely lead the midfield with his speed and footwork, while versatile player Park will be in charge of the defense.

Over in attack, Cho Young-wook of Gimcheon Sangmu FC will bring his aggressiveness to the Asiad. Cho is the second top scorer of the K League 2 with 13 goals and five assists.

Lee Kang-in of Paris Saint-Germain, who has fancy footwork and creativity in his arsenal, is perhaps the biggest name on the team, but he will not play the match against Kuwait, as PSG decided to release him to join the national team on Wednesday. Lee was sidelined with an injury for the past month and could return to the pitch in a Champions League match against Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday.

Lee Kang-in to join Asian Games squad on Sept. 20

The 22-year-old will arrive in China on Wednesday, but is unlikely to play until Sunday’s match against Bahrain.

Winning the gold is crucial for the Korean players, as it would give them exemption from mandatory military service that would otherwise interfere with their careers.

Son Heung-min of Tottenham Hotspur and Kim Min-jae of Bayern Munich earned exemptions in the 2018 Asiad and were able to purse their careers uninterrupted.

If Korea wins a third successive gold this year, it will also surpass Chinese Taipei, Myanmar and Iran and become the first-ever country to complete the historic run.

Tuesday’s match against Kuwait is the first game for the U-24 squad since a two-game series against China in June, which ended with a 3-1 win and 1-0 loss.

This year’s Asiad team includes a number of players that have not played with the rest of the squad, including Lee and three wild card picks: Paik Seung-ho and Park Jin-seob of Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors and Seol Young-woo of Ulsan.

Encouraging solid cohesion with those players will be manager Hwang’s most important task. The 2018 squad was in the same situation and showed a lack of cohesion in the group stage, losing 2-1 to Malaysia, although their performance improved later.

Kuwait is an opponent that the U-23 Korean squad has faced twice before, recording one win and one draw. The last time they played Kuwait was in 2002, when they managed a 2-0 victory.

After Tuesday’s match, Korea will play Thailand on Thursday and Bahrain on Sunday in Group E.

A total of 23 countries will compete in this men's year’s Asian Games football tournament with the top two teams from the six groups and four best third-placed teams advancing to the round of 16.

Korea’s match against Kuwait kicks off at Jinhua Sports Centre Stadium in Jinhua at 7:30 p.m.

BY PAIK JI-HWAN [paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr]