South Korea’s Under-22 national soccer team, led by head coach Hwang Sun-hong, fell to Qatar 0-2 in their first match of the first round of qualifying for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
South Korea fell 0-2 in the first match of Group B of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-23 Asian Cup 2024 on Saturday at the Changwon Football Center in Gyeongnam, South Korea.
The tournament is the first gateway to next year’s AFC U-23 Asian Cup, the final Asian qualifier for the Paris Olympics.
The top two teams from each of the 11 qualifying groups, the top four teams from Group 2 and hosts Qatar will qualify for the U-23 Asian Cup in April-May 2024, with a total of 16 teams competing for a place in Paris.
With Qatar already qualified as hosts of the U-23 Asian Cup, the match is considered a friendly and will not affect the group standings, but Hwang Sun-hong was disappointed with his side’s performance in the first match, as they were hoping to take a commanding lead.
In Group B, Myanmar and Kyrgyzstan, who played earlier in the day, tied 1-1 to share the top spot with one point.
Korea will face Kyrgyzstan on Sept. 9 and Myanmar on Sept. 12.
Hwang Sun-hong lined up Gwangju FC striker Heo Yul, who has been on a tear in the K League 1, up front.
Uhm Ji Sung (Gwangju), Kang Hyun Mook (Gimcheon), Oh Jae Hyuk (Jeonbuk), and Jeon Byung Kwan (Daejeon) formed the second line, while Lee Jin Yong (Daegu) was the defensive midfielder.
The back line consisted of Lee Tae-seok (Seoul), Cho Sung-kwon (Gimpo), 카지노사이트 Cho Woo-je (Busan), and Min Kyung-hyun (Incheon), with Baek Jong-beom (Seoul) in goal.
Early on, Hwang Seon-hongho took control of the game, finding attacking lanes on the left flank where Uhm Ji-sung was moving around.
In the 13th minute, Lee Tae-seok’s low cross from the right side of the goal area was blocked by goalkeeper Yousef Abdullah, and in the 15th minute, Jeon Byung-kwan’s right-footed shot went wide after Heo Yul connected with an exquisite through ball from Uhm Ji Sung.
However, it was Qatar who struck first after a series of chances from set pieces.
In the 38th minute, a long cross from the back was collected by Qatar’s frontline striker Ahmed Alawi with his chest and he struck a right-footed mid-range shot from the right side of the penalty arc to take the lead.
South Korea, who looked shaky in defense after conceding the goal, came close again in the 42nd minute when they lost Alawi in front of goal, but the ball deflected off the left side of the goal and off his chest.
To start the second half, the national team made a change, taking off Jeon Byung-kwan and Kang Hyun-mook and introducing Baek Sang-hoon (Seoul) and Hong Yun-sang (Pohang). Baek Sang-hoon played behind Heo Yul, while Hong Yun-sang started on the right flank. Oh Jae-hyuk dropped down a bit to protect Lee Jin-yong and the midfield.
In the 16th minute of the second half, Lee replaced Lee Jin-yong with European attacking midfielder Lee Hyun-joo (Wiesbaden) in search of an equalizer, but instead, the team conceded a second goal in the 22nd minute after a mistake.
A throw-in from Qatar’s Abdallah Cirelka was collected by Tamim Mansour Al-Abdullah with a backheader from the right side of the penalty area, but the ball bounced in an awkward position inside the goal area and Baek Jong-beom was unable to handle it, allowing it to slide into the net.
South Korea continued to push for an equalizer in the second half, with Um Ji Sung’s right-footed shot from a cross from the right flank by Hong Yun Sang sailing over the bar in the 35th minute, and even sent on striker Kim Shin Jin (Seoul) in place of Oh Jae Hyuk, who suffered a muscle cramp in the 42nd minute, but were unable to find a goal. 슬롯
