“Korea is ahead in terms of objective power. However, we have to open the lid to know about the Korea-Japan war.”
The Republic of Korea Asian Games national soccer team under the age of 24 (U-24), led by coach Hwang Seon-hong, will play the long-awaited final of the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games against Japan at 9 p.m. on the 7th (Korean time).
Previously, Korea defeated ‘difficult enemy’ Uzbekistan 2-1 in the semifinals, and Japan defeated Hong Kong, a relatively easy opponent, 4-0 to advance to the finals.
There is just one win left until Hwang Seon-hong-ho writes ‘new history’. We hope to continue the momentum of Korea’s two consecutive gold medal wins at the 2014 Incheon Asian Games and the 2018 Jakarta Palembang Asian Games and achieve their third consecutive victory.
Until now, no team has won three consecutive Asian Games.토토사이트
Previously, Taiwan (1954-1958), Myanmar (1966-1970), and Iran (1998-2002) achieved two consecutive Asian Games soccer titles, but failed to win three consecutive titles.
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The ‘Korea-Japan match’ is clearly motivating for both teams. This is because the Korea-Japan match is considered to be a game in which even ‘rock-paper-scissors’ cannot be lost. The Korean players are even more eager to win the finals than ever before, as they even have ‘special military service benefits’ attached to winning the championship.
In the history of the under-23 national team against Korea and Japan, Korea holds a slight advantage with 7 wins, 4 draws, and 6 losses in 17 games. However, they suffered a crushing defeat in the most recent match. In the quarterfinals of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-23 Asian Cup in June last year, Hwang Seon-hong lost 0-3 to Japan. However, at that time, it was not a stage where the elite members appeared.
Japanese media ‘Soccer Digest’ reported on the 5th, “Korea is ahead of the A national team with 42 wins, 23 draws, and 16 losses. There is still a big gap (in the records). However, that does not mean that the current Japanese national team players have a poor understanding of Korean soccer,” he emphasized.
At the same time, “Japan has won five consecutive games against Korea in various age groups, starting with the A national team match against Korea and Japan held in Yokohama in March 2021. “It was a 3-0 win,” he said emphatically.
Next, ‘Soccer Digest’ said, “If you look at the objective power of Korea and Japan this time, it is true that Korea has the upper hand. However, in the finals of the 2018 Jakarta/Palembang tournament five years ago, Japan, which was mainly composed of college players, defeated Korea, which consisted of prominent members such as Son Heung-min (Tottenham), Kim Min-jae (Bayern Munich), and Hwang Ui-jo (Norwich City). They had a close overtime match (Korea won 2-1). “You have to open the lid to find out about the Korea-Japan match,” he added.
During the tournament five years ago, Korea and Japan went into overtime after finishing both halves 0-0. Lee Seung-woo (Suwon FC)’s first goal in the 3rd minute of extra time and Hwang Hee-chan (Wolverhampton)’s additional goal in the 11th minute of extra time allowed Korea to win a golden medal by defeating Japan, which made up for a goal in the 10th minute of extra time. Previously, at the 2014 Incheon Games, they met Japan in the quarterfinals and won 1-0.
Korea, which defeated Japan in the previous two competitions, was the winner. Japan admits that it is weak in terms of objective power, but is praying for a different result this time.