Hwang Sun-hong tries to make it to the quarterfinals early after catching China

Hwang Sun-hong, who caught the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and announced a fresh start to his 10th consecutive Olympic finals, will challenge China to advance to the quarterfinals early this time.

The U-23 national soccer team, led by head coach Hwang Sun-hong, will play the second Group B match of the 2024 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-23 Asian Cup against China at the Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium in Doha, Qatar, at 10 p.m. on the 19th (Korea Standard Time).

In addition to Korea, Japan, China, and the UAE belong to Group B. Korea earlier secured a 1-0 win over the UAE in its first match, and is currently tying with Japan for the lead in Group B with three points. Japan also beat China 1-0 in its first match. If Korea wins the match against China, it can secure three additional points to advance to the quarterfinals. If so, it will be able to lessen the burden on Korea-Japan matches, which are the third group match scheduled on Tuesday.

In addition, Korea needs to beat China by scoring as many goals as possible in order to get a better matchup table in the tournament. If Korea and Japan win the second match side by side, and if the match between Korea and Japan ends in a draw, the lead will be determined by the difference in goal difference. The top-ranked team in Group B will play against the second-ranked team in Group A, and the second-ranked team in Group B will play against the first-ranked team in Group A. In Group A, Qatar, the host country, is currently leading with three points, while Australia and Jordan tied in the first match to secure one point each. For this reason, if Korea ranks second in Group B, it is highly likely that the team will meet with Indonesia, which had been subject to controversy over its decision in the first match.

Korea is leading China by a large margin in past matches with 12 wins, three draws and two losses. However, it is premature to let our guard down, as China is investing heavily in soccer with its enormous capitalization recently.

In fact, China threatened the opponent's goal throughout the game to make up for Japan's first goal in the match against Japan. Although they lost due to their lack of goal-scoring ability and stellar defense by Japanese goalkeeper Kokubo Leo, they created a series of dizzying moments and made their hands sweat. In addition, Wi Jin-yong, who is 201 centimeters tall, attracted attention by playing as a scriker instead of the main goalkeeper. China, which plays soccer with its strong physical strength, has secured the right to provide it for Wi Jin-yong.

The national team also needs to make up for some areas. In a match with the UAE, Korea is leading the team by a large margin in ball possession ratio of 73 percent to 27 percent and shooting number of 16 to 3, while posting 43 crosses, but ended up only scoring one. It is imperative to enhance goal-scoring ability and create diverse patterns of offense. When Hwang assumed the leadership of the Olympic team after inaugurating the A team's interim coach system last month, he stressed that he would thoroughly prepare set pieces. He already scored a point with set pieces in a match with the UAE.

Another burden to Hwang is that it is uncertain whether Jung Sang-bin (Minnesota), who joined belatedly due to schedule of his team, will play or not. He has no problem with his current condition, but chances are high that he will miss the match against China due to time difference or flight time. If so, Jung will likely play in the match against Korea and Japan.

https://www.sportstotolink.com