Lee Chang-won, head coach of the South Korean U-19 national team, who defeated Thailand, said he will focus on preparing for the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup qualifiers in the next game.
South Korea, led by head coach Lee Chang-won, beat Thailand 4-1 in the first round of the 2024 Seoul Earth On Us Cup U-19 International Youth Competition (hereinafter referred to as the Seoul EOU Cup) at 7:30 p.m. on the 28th at Mokdong Stadium.
This is the second championship after last year’s event. Four teams from Argentina, Thailand, and Indonesia, including the defending champion, will participate in the event to determine the final winner through a full league method. On the same day, Indonesia beat Argentina 2 to 1.
South Korea was aggressive from the beginning and went ahead with Shim Yeon-won’s header in the 26th minute of the first half. In the extra time of the first half, Jin Joon-seo (Gangwon) again pushed the ball that hit the post and scored an additional goal.
Korea conceded a goal in the 11th minute of the second half, but the team did not falter any further. It secured a 4-1 victory with Hong Seok-hyun’s (Hanam University) cool left footed shot in the 15th minute of the second half and Kim Myung-joon (Pohang)’s netted goal in the 41st minute of the second half. Kim calmly beat the goalie and scored a chip shot to the net, creating excitement.
After the game, Lee said, “It was my first game after training for four days. I am grateful to the players for the victory. The first game was not easy, but the players performed better than I thought. I look forward to the next game as well.”
He added, “It’s not perfect, but it was the best performance in the third round so far. About 70 to 80 percent of the players followed me,” adding, “Hong Seok-hyun played as well as I expected. I look forward to it.”
However, Korea lost a point to Thailand as its energy level dropped at the beginning of the second half. “It’s homework. Each player gathers separately, and they can’t play much for their teams. Training is only four days, so it’s hard to check players’ physical strength or condition,” Lee said. “I feel a problem, too. It’s homework. Through these kinds of competitions, I feel the need for a long convocation period. I will keep that in mind.”
The next team is Argentina. Lee Chang-won will play his second match against Argentina on the 30th. Lee said, “Winning and losing are important, but we have an important Asian Cup qualifying round ahead. I plan to use several players. We plan to change a lot of players to evaluate their abilities and prepare for the Asian Cup qualifying round.”
Shim Yeon-won, who scored the first goal, reflected on the game, saying, “It was not bad for me to prepare for the first game. I’m not very satisfied, but I’m still satisfied to some extent.” 안전놀이터
He then said, “I think Argentina is a strong team,” but vowed to win, saying, “But I will tell the players, ‘Let’s not be scared,’ and fight strongly.”
Meanwhile, Thai coach Emerson Pereira, who gave up four goals, said, “We faced a very strong team called Korea. We were disappointed in the first half, but we improved in the second half. We also scored a goal. However, it is regrettable that we lost points in a row when the mood was revitalizing. We will reduce mistakes in the next match,” adding, “Korea played as a team. We had good teamwork.”