‘Strong player’ Brazil avoids Ecuador and meets
tournament match ‘Best scenario’
Quarterfinal tickets on the 2nd of next month, one-shot match
Manager Kim “Colorful team, be vigilant”
The scheduled ‘real soccer’ caught both rabbits. Now, the only thing left to do is to pour all our energy against Ecuador, whom we will meet in the round of 16.메이저사이트
The Korean national under-20 (U-20) soccer team led by coach Kim Eun-joong drew 0-0 with Gambia in the final Group F match of the 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup held at Mendoza Stadium in Mendoza, Argentina on the 29th. Korea, which secured a ticket to the round of 16 early as a result of the second game, confirmed its advance to the round of 16 by finishing second in the group following Gambia (2 wins, 1 draw, 7 points) with 1 win, 2 draws (5 points).
Coach Kim predicted a large-scale rotation ahead of the match against Gambia. It is to arrange the physical strength of the players in preparation for the round of 16. He expressed his intention to prepare for the tournament by effectively taking advantage of the situation where he could reach the round of 16 even if he fell to third place in the group.
Among the starting list, only four players were Lee Young-joon (Kimcheon), Lee Seung-won (Gangwon), Kang Seong-jin (Seoul), and Kim Ji-su (Seongnam) who participated in the second group match against Honduras.
As many of the main axes fell out, they struggled in the first half. The first shot came out only in the 11th minute of the first half, and it was difficult to create a chance. However, in the second half, the offense began to revive little by little as some key players were replaced. There were several chances of conceding goals, but instead of goalkeeper Kim Joon-hong (Kimcheon), who was unable to come forward due to accumulated warnings, Moon Hyeon-ho (Chungnam Asan), who wore gloves, saved the team with brilliant saves.
Although the result was a draw as no goal was scored, the stamina arrangement that coach Kim thought of was achieved as intended. On top of that, I even saw the effect of maintaining the overall game sense of the players by introducing a second half substitution.
In addition, passing in second place in the group eventually led to the luck of meeting the most challenging opponent. At 6:00 am on June 2, at the Santiago del Estero Stadium, the opponent to compete for a ticket to the quarterfinals with Korea is Ecuador, second in Group B. Ecuador managed to win the U-20 World Cup ticket by pulling up to 4th place in the South American qualifiers. In the group stage, they advanced to the round of 16 in second place (2 wins, 1 loss) following the United States (3 wins), and their goal difference reached a whopping +9. However, this was thanks to a 9-0 victory over Fiji, the weakest team. If Korea passed as first place, it would have had to meet Uruguay, second place in Group E, and if it advanced to third place, there was a high possibility of facing the ‘strongest’ Brazil. Ecuador also has a pleasant memory of meeting Korea in the semifinals and winning 1-0 in the Poland tournament four years ago.
It went well as planned, but coach Kim is not showing any vigilance, saying that this is just the beginning. Coach Kim said after the game, “From now on, it’s a one-shot game. I’m cautious, but I’ll prepare well to produce results. The teams in the tournament are strong teams with their own colors. We have to prepare thoroughly,” he said.