The FIFA U-20 World Cup runner-up members challenge a new history at the Asian Games. ‘Hwangseonhongho’ is a short time, but it is a resolution to prepare a foundation for this by strengthening organizational power.
The U-24 (under 24)메이저놀이터 national team led by head coach Hwang Seon-hong convened the Paju NFC (National Football Team Training Center) on the 15th and began training for three days.
Hwang Seon-Hong-Ho, who is preparing to participate in the Asian Games in Hangzhou in September, will gather a total of 27 people at this camp and work together. Most of the players are members of the U-24 and U-22 national teams who went to Qatar for an away evaluation last March.
Through this call-up, coach Hwang said, “I want to call it all year round, but the league is fierce, so it is difficult except during the A-match period. It will be a good opportunity and it will be a short but valuable time to share tactics.”
At the same time, he said, “It’s a tournament, it’s a short-term game, so the most important thing is how much you can become one team. We will select players who will go towards one goal as ‘one team’.”
Hwang Seon-Hong-Ho challenges the record of three consecutive Asian Games victories. There has never been a single loss in men’s football at the Asian Games. Korea (2014, 2018), Taiwan (1954, 1958), Myanmar (1966, 1970/Burma era), and Iran (1998, 2002) are the countries that achieved two consecutive victories.
In the 1950s, when Taiwan was strong, Korea was the scapegoat for Taiwan’s second consecutive victory. Later, at the 1962 Jakarta Games, South Korea lost to India in the final and had a sad record of winning three silver medals in a row.
If Hwang Seon-hong-ho wins the gold medal in this event, it will be the first three-game victory in men’s soccer in the Asian Games.
Among Korean ball games, professional sports baseball was the first to win three consecutive championships in 2010, 2014, and 2018. In men’s and women’s handball, they have achieved an even better record of 5 consecutive losses, and in women’s hockey, achieving 4 consecutive losses is the record for the most consecutive victories.
Of course, the shoulders of coach Hwang Seon-hong, who is challenging for three straight titles, are very heavy. He expressed his ambition, “It is an unavoidable situation, so it is important to move forward with confidence. It is important to do something that has never been done.
The age group of the national team participating in the Asian Games is the generation of runners-up in the 2019 U20 World Cup. Players who made memories in Poland, such as Eom Won-sang (Ulsan), Lee Jae-ik (Seoul E-Land), Ko Jae-hyeon (Daegu), and Jo Young-wook (Gimcheon) joined this call.
Here, Lee Kang-in (Mallorca), a U20 World Cup Golden Ball winner and currently a key resource for Klinsmann, is expected to join.
What these members have, above all, is the ‘confidence’ and strong mentality that Korean soccer will work on the world stage.
Although the U-20 World Cup was a tournament held for a short period of time, Korea wrote a new history by experiencing victories against Korea and Japan in the round of 16 and a dramatic penalty shootout victory against Senegal in the quarterfinals. The mental strength gained by achieving a lot in a short period of time has been a great nourishment for the player’s growth.
Director Hwang may be happy to have these members, but he also looked at the other side. He predicted that the existence of the members at the time would come with the confidence that they could do it, but “on the other hand, the glory of the past does not guarantee the present. The future is more important than the past, and we will develop players who will go out according to it.”
Um Won-sang and Lee Jae-ik also expected synergy with other colleagues rather than members who were already close at the time.
Eom Won-sang said, “I know the plays that the U-20 World Cup members are good at. If you look at the roster, many players have changed. There are members at the time, but it is important to understand the tendencies of other members. Members can change even before the tournament, so organizational strength Getting it done is important,” he said.
Lee Jae-ik also replied, “There is a sense of closeness among the U-20 World Cup members, but since all other players have joined, we want to achieve good results together.”
Although it is a short time, Hwang Seon-hong shares tactics and strengthens organizational power. In addition to the U20 World Cup members, the synergy of players active in the K-League is added to Hwang Seon-Hong Ho to challenge a new history.