Despite failing to recapture the top spot in Asia, coach Kim Eun-joong of the U-20 men’s national soccer team, who achieved the first goal of advancing to the World Cup finals, was confident that he would achieve better results in the World Cup. .
The U-20 national team led by coach Kim returned to Korea on the 17th after finishing the 2023 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-20 Asian Cup schedule held in Uzbekistan.
In the semi-final against the host country Uzbekistan held on the 15th, Korea drew without scoring in the first half and overtime, and then lost 1-3 in the penalty shootout to finish this tournament in a tie for third place.
Although they have not won the championship for the first time in 11 years since 2012, they will be able to participate in the FIFA U-20 World Cup held in Indonesia from May 20 to June 11 by advancing to the semifinals of this tournament.
According to the Korea Football Association, coach Kim Eun-joong said in an interview at the arrival hall that day, “This is an international tournament that has been held for a long time since the outbreak of the novel coronavirus infection (Corona 19). We prepared for a year and to some extent achieved our goal.” I was able to find a point of improvement for the team. There is not much time left, but I will try to make the team perform well in the World Cup in May.”
In the 2019 Poland tournament, the previous FIFA U-20 World Cup, Korea won the runner-up, the highest performance in a FIFA-sponsored competition in the history of men’s football, with Lee Kang-in (Mallorca) and others.
Regarding the points gained from this tournament, Coach Kim said, “I am satisfied that the young players played in front of a large crowd. (Uzbekistan) must have felt the pressure from the home crowd.” I came to know. However, in the World Cup, I will face a stronger team. I think I need to prepare more closely.”
Our national team scored 9 goals in 5 games in this tournament and conceded only 1 goal.
Manager Kim said positively, “I think the balance between offense and defense has improved a lot because we gave up one run (against China) by mistake.” As players, I think we need to make up for it,” he added.
There are now two months left until the World Cup. There is not much time to prepare for the competition . 스포츠토토
According to coach Kim, the time to convene and train the national team is about 20 days.
In addition, among the current national team players, players belonging to professional teams are not the main players in the team. There are numerous players who have not yet debuted in the K-League.
Here, director Kim’s concerns grow.
Manager Kim said, “The thing I’m most worried about is that most of the players return to the professional team and can’t play because they are young.” said.
What coach Kim picked as a complement to our national team in order to face stronger teams in the World Cup is game stamina, game management, and offense and defense conversion speed.
Coach Kim said, “In the World Cup, I will break down my goals so that I can pass the group stage and play well in the tournament.”