Korean soccer got a good leader from Argentina.
At the 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup held in Argentina, discovering outstanding players who will be responsible for the future of Korean football, such as Bae Jun-ho, Lee Young-jun, Lee Seung-won, Choi Seok-hyun, and Kim Ji-soo, is regarded as the greatest harvest.스포츠토토
It is not only players who have risen to the surface. Coach Kim Eun-joong has also grown rapidly as a leader who will be a great help to Korean soccer. Coach Kim, who was born in 1979 and is in his mid-40s, made us look forward to the future by writing a great history of reaching the semifinals in the World Cup just 1 year and 6 months after transforming into the command tower.
Director Kim is a character born with good qualities as a leader.
The U-20 national team was evaluated as the so-called ‘Valley Generation’. Compared to the Poland tournament four years ago, the main analysis was that the weight of the squad was low. Even advancing to the round of 16 was expected to be a success.
As much as that, coach Kim had a lot of trouble with the entry composition. After ascending to the command tower, coach Kim focused on finding players who could be of help to the team by traveling around the country for nearly a year. College competitions and leagues are the basics, and I even went looking for K4 games where professional B teams compete.
He actively sold his feet to soccer officials and agents, and tried hard to secure decent resources among players of the age group who could participate in the World Cup. He even made a schedule for overseas visits and met with club officials to discuss selection.
Planning and preparing overseas training trips such as Vietnam, Portugal, and Uzbekistan also originated from coach Kim’s idea. In order to make up for the weaknesses of players lacking overseas experience, coach Kim actively expressed his opinion to the Korea Football Association and realized it.
Thanks to this, he was able to take the players to the World Cup with experience. His meticulous and sincere temperament was of great help to the national team throughout the preparation period for the World Cup.
Director Kim, who looks calm and composed from the outside, is a leader with a sharp side, befitting his nickname ‘Sharp’. As a team leader, he is a style that emphasizes the importance of discipline and team culture. Rather than guaranteeing autonomy comfortably, he presented a list to be followed within the team and focused on creating a ‘one team’ so that the team did not blur the team atmosphere.
Even when he was called up for the first time in the race in January of last year, he talked about the things he should protect as a team member. While coaching the players, he did not hesitate to speak bitterly when necessary. Director Kim is a leader who has warmth and sharpness at the same time.
His tactical and strategic aspects are also outstanding. Ever since he took office, coach Kim has worked hard to improve the completeness of the formation based on the 4-3-3 or 4-1-4-1 used in this tournament. He decided that it would be better to sharpen one weapon with concentration rather than using multiple tactics in an environment where it is difficult to train in depth due to the nature of the national team and the time to prepare for the tournament is not long.
In the process, the resourcefulness of flexibly modifying the strategy also shined. In the Asian Cup and Asian competitions, he played to take the lead, but ahead of the World Cup, he put more weight on defense to minimize conceding goals, and then turned to seize opportunities with quick counterattacks, which worked.
After this tournament, the contract between coach Kim and the association ends. Director Kim, who has been busy running for 1 year and 6 months, takes a moment to catch his breath and prepare for the next one. I don’t know what future will open up to him, but what is certain is that coach Kim has become a valuable resource for Korean football.