Asian Games head coach Hwang Sun-hong has warned against complacency after his team booked an early berth in the round of 16 at the Asian Games.
The Asian Games soccer team, led by Hwang Sun-hong, defeated Thailand 4-0 with relay goals from Hong Hyun-seok (Ghent), Ahn Jae-joon (Bucheon), Uhm Won-sang (Ulsan) and Lee Jae-ik (Yiland) in the second match of Group E of the men’s soccer competition at 안전카지노사이트 Hangzhou Jinhua Stadium in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, China, at 8:30 p.m. (KST) on Aug. 21.
After a 9-0 win over Kuwait on Sept. 19, South Korea used a stunning 13-goal outburst in their two games to win both matches and earn six points to top the group and advance to the Round of 16 early. After two games, the standings in Group E are Korea (6 points), Bahrain (2 points), Thailand (1 point), and Kuwait (1 point).
“Reaching the final tournament is something to celebrate, but we won’t be satisfied until we win the gold medal,” said Hwang. We need to maintain our performance in our next game to prepare for the round of 16 tournament.”
After the last match against Kuwait, Hwang said, “This is the first of seven shots. You have to play it as if it doesn’t exist and forget about it,” Hwang said, “I was a little unhappy today because we scored a lot of goals in the first half, but we didn’t have that in the second half. We need to play with tension for the whole 90 minutes.”
“We have a lot of new players,” Hwang said of his team’s plans for the third leg against Bahrain on Thursday, when the pressure is off. There are players who are finding their form and we haven’t trained together as a whole. Regarding the combinations, the first and second combinations should also prepare for the third game in terms of the player pool. We plan to use it as a time to check. We will use the third game to prepare for the round of 16 tournament.”
Ahead of the match, Hwang was seen chatting with Lee Kang-in (Paris Saint-Germain), who arrived in Hangzhou this afternoon and joined the team shortly after, on the bench side by side for more than 15 minutes. “The end goal is clear. I shared my opinion with Lee Kang-in about what we need. I have my own ideas, but the players also have their own ideas. It’s important to be on the same page with Lee Kang-in and other players. There were many points of contact. We need to get stronger through communication with our teammates and coaching staff.”
As for how Lee Kang-in will be utilized in the future, he said, “We need to check his physical condition. It’s too early to say if Lee Kang-in will play. We will make a choice based on many factors.” Lee is expected to check his condition as early as the Bahrain match.