At 8:30 p.m. on the 10th, the
Korean team pledged to get off to a strong start with a victory in the first match against Kuwait in the men’s soccer group E of the Hangzhou Asian Games

Hwang Seon-hong, who is receiving both concerns and expectations, finally plays in his first game with the determination to achieve the first victory among the Korean players.

The Korean men’s Asian Games national soccer team (under 24 years old), led by coach Hwang Seon-hong, will play the first match of Group E of the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games against Kuwait at Jinhua Stadium in Zhejiang, China, on the 19th.

Ahead of the opening on the 23rd, Hwang Seon-hong-ho, who will be the first among the Korean players to participate in the preliminary round of each event, has won three consecutive Asian Games games as he has been preparing in advance, even though ace Lee Kang-in (22, Paris Saint-Germain) is joining later than expected. We are determined to successfully overcome the first hurdle toward .

According to a Chinese local report by the JoongAng Ilbo, Coach Hwang said in an interview with Korean reporters prior to training held at the Aiqingo Stadium in Jinhua, Zhejiang Province, China on the afternoon of the 18th, “The players should maintain their composure and be patient rather than feeling rushed or pressured.” “If we have this, we will definitely win,” he said. “There is also a morale problem for the entire Korean team, so I will give good results and energy to the (Korean) players with the mindset that the players will come together and represent the team.”

Korea is sending a team of 1,140 athletes in 39 sports, the largest number in history, to the Asian Games, which will be held a year later due to the coronavirus pandemic, with the goal of winning up to 50 gold medals and finishing third in the overall rankings. Hwang Seon-hong will be the first to compete. .

Seon-Hong Hwang is attempting to win his third consecutive men’s soccer title and sixth overall, following the 2014 Incheon Games and the 2018 Jakarta/Palembang Games. If Korea wins the gold medal, he will become the first Asian Games men’s soccer team to win three consecutive titles.

However, Lee Kang-in, who was scheduled to play in the Asian Games, went through recovery training due to a left quadriceps injury, completed the Champions League schedule on the 20th, and was scheduled to join Hwang Seon-hong on the 21st, so he was scheduled to play the first game against Kuwait as well as the second game against Thailand (21st). He is expected to miss Sunday) as well. It appears that he will be able to play in the third game against Bahrain (on the 24th) at the earliest.

Coach Hwang also pledged victory, saying, “We will bring good results from the first game,” but rather than using Lee Kang-in excessively from the group stage, his goal is to work with existing players to strengthen his teamwork and then focus on the final tournament and win. Emphasis is placed on the two sides.

As director Hwang Seon-hong left the country through Incheon International Airport on the 16th, he strengthened his resolve by presenting ‘Pabuchimju ( 바카라 )’, which means ‘breaking the pot and sinking the ship’, as his candidacy ticket. Hwang Seon-hong, who trained in Changwon from the 4th to the 12th, moved to Paju NFC on the 13th and conducted additional training. Of the 22 players on the final list, 21, excluding Lee Kang-in, boarded a plane to Hangzhou.

As this year’s Asian Games will be held a year later in five years, even athletes as young as 24 can participate. As wild cards with no age limit, defenders Seol Young-woo and Park Jin-seop, and midfielder Baek Seung-ho joined Hwang Seon-hong.

◆ Hangzhou Asian Games men’s soccer final list

GK: Gwang-yeon Lee (Gangwon FC), Seong-jun Min (Incheon United), Jeong-hoon Kim (Jeonbuk Hyundai)

DF: Young-woo Seol (Ulsan Hyundai/Wild Card), Gyu-hyeon Park (Dynamo Dresden), Jae-ik Lee (Seoul E-Land) , Lee Han-beom (Midt Willan), Park Jin-seop (Jeonbuk/Wild Card), Kim Tae-hyun (Vegalda Sendai), Hwang Jae-won (Daegu FC), Choi Jun (Busan I-Park) MF: Jeong Ho-yeon (Gwangju FC), Hong Hyun-seok (KAA Gent), Baek Seung-

ho (Jeonbuk/Wild Card), Song Min-gyu (Jeonbuk), Jeong Woo-young (Stuttgart), Go Young-jun (Pohang Steelers), Lee Kang-in (PSG), Eom Won-sang (Ulsan), Jo Young-wook (Gimcheon Sangmu) FW: Park Jae-yong (Jeonbuk Hyundai), Ahn Jae-jun (Bucheon