Hwang Seon-hong, who scored 9 goals in the first men’s soccer match at the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games, put aside the joy of a record-breaking victory and aims for a ‘flawless victory’ in the second match against Thailand. The national soccer team, led by coach Hwang Seon-hong, will play the second match of Group E against Thailand at the Jinhua Sports Center Stadium in Zhejiang Province, China, at 8:30 PM Korean time on the 21st. Korea, which won a whopping 9-0 against Kuwait on the 19th (3 points, +9 goals), rose to the top of Group E. Bahrain and Thailand drew 1-1 on the same day and shared only 1 point.
In this tournament, in which 21 teams compete in 6 groups, the 12 teams that took 1st and 2nd place in each group and the top 4 teams that ranked 3rd in each group will advance to the round of 16. Korea was included in Group E along with Kuwait, Bahrain, and Thailand, and showed off its status as a contender for the championship by winning a landslide victory in the first game.
If Korea wins the match against Thailand scheduled for the 21st, they will secure an early advance to the round of 16 with two wins. Thailand and Bahrain drew in the first game, so if Hwang Seon-Hong wins consecutive wins, there is no way for them to fall below second place in the group.
It’s easy to laugh at the huge win that saw nine goals scored from the first game, but coach Hwang Seon-hong and the players are still not relaxed. This is because we know the journey of Kim Hak-beom, who won the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games, the previous competition. Hak-Beom Kim ultimately won the gold medal, but there were twists and turns. Kim Hak-beom, who won 6-0 against Bahrain in the first game of the tournament, performed like a lie in the second game against Malaysia and lost 1-2.
Due to this defeat, Kim Hak-beom, who finished second in the group and advanced to the round of 16, had to relax as he faced powerhouse Uzbekistan in the quarterfinals and engaged in a bloody overtime battle. Although they ended up winning 4-3, this game was considered Kim Hak-beom’s biggest challenge.
Coach Hwang, who knows this context, emphasized right after the game against Kuwait, “We must do our best in every game to win,” and “We must have confidence, but forget about everything else.” Attention is also paid to how Coach Hwang will manage the team amid Hangzhou’s hot weather and tight competition schedule. Meanwhile, Lee Kang-in (Paris Saint-Germain), who plays the role of ace, arrives in Hangzhou on the afternoon of the 21st and appears unlikely to participate in the game.
yunhap news
2023-09-20 10:39:00
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