Hwang Seon-hong, who needs the ‘spirit of victory,’ is playing his first important game.
The under-22 (U-22) national team (Olympic team) led by coach Hwang Sun-hong will face Qatar at the Changwon Football Center at 8 p.m. on the 6th in the 2024 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) under-23 (U-23) Asian Cup preliminaries, Group B. Let’s play the next game.
This tournament, which is held as the first Asian qualifier for the Paris Olympics, is Korea’s first gateway to advancing to the finals for the 10th consecutive time at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Starting with the Qatar match, Hwang Seon-hong will face Kyrgyzstan on the 9th and Myanmar on the 12th.
A total of 16 teams will advance to the U-23 Asian Cup finals, including the first-place team from each of the 11 preliminary groups, the top four teams from the second-place groups, and the host country, Qatar.
The 2024 AFC U-23 Asian Cup finals will be held in April next year, serving as the final Asian qualifier for the Paris Olympics. The top three teams in the competition advance directly to the Olympic finals, and the fourth-place team must play a playoff against the fourth-place team from the African qualifiers for a spot in the Olympics.
When announcing the convocation list, coach Hwang Seon-hong said, “Because this is the first competition on the way to the Paris Olympics, I plan to do my best with the goal of winning all three games.”
The day before (the 5th), the final list of 23 players for this preliminary round was announced. Coach Hwang Seon-hong, who trained with 26 called-up players from the 28th of last month to September 3rd, made a final list of 23 players excluding Kim Joo-chan (Suwon Samsung), Park Chang-hwan (Seoul E-Land), and Hwang Jae-hwan (Ulsan Hyundai). Overseas midfielders Kwon Hyuk-gyu (Celtic), Jeong Sang-bin (Minnesota United), and Lee Hyun-joo (Wiesbaden) were included in the list.
Director Hwang Seon-hong is having a very busy time. This is because, in addition to this preliminary round, we are also preparing for the Hangzhou Asian Games, which are coming up in two weeks.
The Asian Games national team has also been training in full force in Changwon since the 4th. After wrapping up the Changwon schedule on the 12th, they will move to the Paju National Training Center (NFC) for further training and then leave for Hangzhou, the final match of the Asian Games, on the 16th.
Director Hwang Seon-hong is someone who would not be able to have two bodies. For now, we will focus on the first round of the Asian Cup qualifiers against Qatar.바카라
The results of the match between Korea and Qatar do not affect Group B rankings. Qatar has already secured a ticket to the 2024 U23 Asian Cup finals as the host country. Accordingly, the match between the two teams is shaping up to be a friendly match.
Nevertheless, for Hwang Seon-hong, this Qatar match has a special meaning. This is because it is the first game of a ‘long game’ for Hwang Seon-hong, who has to run non-stop from the Asian Cup preliminaries to the Asian Games.
In soccer, where flow is very important, taking the first step towards ‘victory’ is very important. A high-scoring win is a plus. That energy will be passed on to the Asian Games national team.
Meanwhile, the Hangzhou Asian Games will be held from the 23rd to October 8th. Soccer, which has a larger number of games compared to the competition period, is scheduled ahead of the official opening ceremony. Korea, a member of Group E, will play its first group match against Kuwait at the Jinhwa Sports Center Stadium on the 19th. Afterwards, they will face Thailand on the 21st and Bahrain on the 24th at the same venue.
Korea is attempting to win the Asian Games for the third time in a row, following Incheon in 2014 and Jakarta-Palembang in 2018. If a gold medal is won, the team will receive special military service benefits.
The Asian Games national team gathered in Changwon is showing considerable determination. According to the Korea Football Association’s social media account on the 5th, Baek Seung-ho went into training with the determination that “I feel a great sense of responsibility as I was selected as a wild card. Since the young players all have a lot of experience, if they help each other and play, they will be able to show a good performance.” .