Hwang Sun-hong has announced his team’s lineup as they seek a third straight Asian Games title.
South Korea’s Asian Games squad, led by Hwang Sun-hong, will open their Group E campaign against Kuwait at 8:30 p.m. today at the Jinhua Sports Center Stadium in Hangzhou, China. The official opening day of the Games is on the 23rd, but with a tight schedule, soccer will kick off with a preliminary event.
The Korea Football Association announced the squad a day ahead of the first game. Lee Kang-in (Paris Saint-Germain) will wear the No. 18 shirt, followed by Jung Woo-young (Stuttgart) at No. 7 and Hong Hyun-seok (KAA Gent) at No. 6. Cho Young-wook (Gimcheon Sangmu), who has been on fire in the K League, will play at No. 10, while Song Min-kyu (Jeonbuk Hyundai) and Uhm Won-sang (Ulsan Hyundai) will play at No. 17 and No. 11, respectively.
Wildcard and captain Baek Seung-ho (Jeonbuk) will wear No. 8, while Park Jin-seop (Jeonbuk) and Seol Young-woo (Ulsan) will wear No. 4 and No. 19, respectively.
Hwang Sun-hong will be looking to win his third straight title. After winning gold at the 1986 Seoul Asian Games, South Korea waited 28 years for its next podium finish. They broke their gold medal silence at the 2014 Incheon Asian Games under the guidance of the late coach Lee Kwang-jong.
Then, at the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games, Kim Hak-beom-ho led a golden wildcard (over-age players) team of Son Heung-min (Tottenham Hotspur), Hwang Eui-jo (Norwich City) and Cho Hyun-woo (Ulsan Hyundai), along with Kim Min-jae (Bayern Munich), Hwang Hee-chan (Wolverhampton Wanderers) and Lee Seung-woo (Suwon FC).
Hwang Sun-hong, who left for China on Sept. 16, will play his first game on Sept. 19. It will also be the first game for the entire Korean squad. “You’re putting a lot of pressure on me, and I understand that,” Hwang said. “There’s also a morale issue with the entire Korean team, so I’ll try to give the team good results and energy with the mindset of representing them together.” 카지노
Hwang also confirmed the arrival of Lee Kang-in, who had been in a tug-of-war with the team over whether or not he would be called up. Lee will join Hwang after the UEFA Champions League (UCL) match against Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday (June 20).
After skipping the first and second rounds of the group stage, Lee will be ready to go in time for the third round match against Bahrain on Sept. 24. “I didn’t expect Lee Kang-in to join the team from the beginning, so I have a plan and I’m not worried about it,” Hwang said at a press conference before his departure, adding, “We need to calculate when Lee Kang-in’s physical condition is at its peak.”
In men’s soccer, 23 nations will compete in six groups (four in groups A-B-C-E-F and three in group D), with 12 teams finishing second in each group and four teams advancing to the round of 16 on points.