Getting closer to reclaiming the top of Asia in 11 years…’Kim Eun-joong’, semi-final against Uzbekistan on the 15th
There is not much time left for ‘Kim Eun-joong-ho’, who aims to regain the top spot in Asia after 11 years. His dream gets closer once he crosses the semifinals.
South Korea will play host country Uzbekistan in the semifinals of the 2023 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-20 Asian Cup held at Bunyodkor Stadium in Tashkent, Uzbekistan on the 15th (Korean time). Both teams advanced to the quarterfinals with first place in the group stage (2 wins, 1 draw), and advanced to the semifinals after playing overtime. Korea, the country that won the tournament the most times, is aiming for its 13th championship in 11 years. It has not won since the 2012 UAE tournament, and four years ago in Indonesia, it was pushed back by Saudi Arabia and stayed in second place.스마일 토토
Korea, which won 3-1 after extra time in the quarterfinal against China on the 12th, is quite encouraging. At the same time, it secured the right to participate in the FIFA U-20 World Cup finals to be held in Indonesia in May. This ticket is given only to the countries that advance to the quarterfinals.
Korea boasts clean game management in the group stage of this tournament. Oman (4-0 win), Jordan (2-0 win) and Tajikistan (0-0 draw) did not concede. He put a strong organizational power to the point of recording his first goal in the quarterfinals. In particular, even after conceding, he did not give up and pushed more aggressively to win.
China’s excessive tackles and fouls were not shaken by rough physical fights. As a result of calmly playing the game, he also took the victory. Another strength is that they have strong scoring skills such as Seong Jin-yeong (3 goals), Kim Yong-hak (2 goals), and Kang Seong-jin (2 goals).
The potential of Uzbekistan cannot be ignored. After rising to the top of the group in the group stage, they played Australia in the quarterfinals and played 1-1 overtime, winning 5-4 after a penalty shootout. As the runner-up in this competition in 2008 is the best result, they are aiming for the first ever victory in this competition held at home. In addition, it is expected to be a difficult opponent as it has a ‘host country premium’. Because Uzbekistan played the quarterfinals a day ahead of Korea, it was also beneficial for Uzbekistan to take an extra day off.
Kim Eun-joong showed confidence. This is because they recorded 1 win and 1 draw in two evaluation matches against Uzbekistan in November last year. Unlike the first game (1-1 draw), Lee Jun-sang (Seongnam), Lee Yeong-jun (Gimcheon), and Bae Jun-ho (Daejeon) won the game 3-2 in the second game. The previous opponent record is also ahead with 5 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss. Coach Kim Eun-joong also predicted, “Since we are a team that knows each other well, the match will be decided depending on which team is in better condition on the day of the match.”
