Dominant performance by young Taeguk Warriors secures spot in knockout stage

Football

Published: 21 Sep. 2023, 22:25 Updated: 22 Sep. 2023, 10:26

Dominant performance by young Taeguk Warriors secures spot in knockout stage

Korea's Um Won-sang shoots during a Hangzhou Asian Games Group E match against Thailand at Jinhua Sports Centre Stadium in Jinhua, China on Thursday. [YONHAP]

The U-24 Korean national team thrashed Thailand 4-0 in their second group stage match of the Hangzhou Asian Games Thursday, securing their second win of the tournament and locking in a spot in the knockout stage as Group E winners with one game left to play.

The match at Jinhua Sports Centre Stadium in Jinhua, China kicked off with Korea making multiple chances in the first 10 minutes. It was Hong Hyun-seok that opened the scoring with a header in the 15th minute.

Hong’s goal turned out to be the first of many in the first half, with the young Taeguk Warriors quickly dominating the game.

An Jae-jun’s goal followed in the 20th minute, before Um Won-sang made it 3-0 in the 39th minute from a tight angle inside the penalty area.

Lee Jae-ik then smashed in a shot, hitting a ball that the Thai defense failed to clear from a Korea free kick to make it 4-0 before half time. Thursday’s game was the second Korea led 4-0 at the halfway mark, having also managed the same against Kuwait en route to a 9-0 drubbing on Tuesday.

Korea beat Kuwait 9-0 to kick off Asian Games title defense

Thailand, on the other hand, failed to create any solid chances and recorded zero shots in the first half, as they mainly had to deal with Korea’s constant pressure that forced them back into their own half.

The young Taeguk Warriors played the second half with a lot less pressure, but still created solid chances. No more goals followed, however, and the match ended with a 4-0 win for Korea.

Korea’s two massive wins in the group stage came despite the absence of Lee Kang-in of Paris Saint-Germain, who is perhaps the biggest Korean player on the team.

Lee was not on the roster for Thursday’s game as he jetted into China a few hours before the match — PSG allowed him to join the Asiad squad on Wednesday after recovering from injury.

Whether he will play Korea’s last group stage match against Bahrain on Sunday remains to be seen, as manager Hwang Sun-hong will likely start a weaker squad in the last match and rest regular starters ahead of the knockout stage.

Winning gold at the Asian Games 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.

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