Men's football ASIAD 18: Defending champion Korea is confident

Four years ago, the South Korean U23 team became the champion of the Asian Games held on home soil after defeating the Olympic DPRK in the final with a score of 1-0. The team of the land of kimchi set a goal of winning the gold medal in men's football for the second consecutive time. To do that, the Korean Football Association (KFA) officially fired the coach of the U23 team, Mr. Kim Bong-gil, after the team's poor performance at the 2018 AFC U23 Championship. In China, the South Korean U23 team ended this tournament by losing 0-1 to Qatar in the third-place match.

Coach Kim Hak-bum was chosen to replace coach Kim Bong-gil. Photo: Internet

Coach Kim Hakbum is the KFA's chosen replacement. Hak-bum, 59, spent most of his coaching career with K League 2 club Seannam FC, winning the K League Championship with them in 2006 and then the Football Association Cup in 2014. He then moved on to coach Gangwon FC and Gwangju FC, as well as Chinese side Henan Jianye. Kim most recently coached Gwangju FC from August to November 2017 until his appointment as head coach of the South Korea Olympics.

Make the most of it

To defend the gold medal in men's football at the ASIAD, the Korean Football Federation has just decided to add 3 players over 23 years old to the national Olympic team to Indonesia next August. Notably, there are 2 stars who just joined the Korean team to attend the 2018 World Cup in Russia: striker Son Heung-min and goalkeeper Jo Hyeon-woo, the remaining player is striker Hwang Ui-jo. Remember, captain Son Heung-min was the player who sealed the impressive 2-0 victory for Korea in the final match of the 2018 World Cup, officially eliminating the German team from the game. As for Jo Hyeon-woo, the young goalkeeper, he had an excellent match blocking all scoring efforts of the 2014 world champion, the German team at the 2018 World Cup.

Coach Kim Hak-bum also has some of the most prominent young stars of Korean football today, such as midfielder Lee Seung-woo (Hellas Verona), striker Hwang Hee-chan (Red Bull Salzburg) and midfielder Kim Jung-min (FC Liefering). Thus, the Korean Olympic squad has 4 players from the front line of the Korean national team, such as Lee Seung-woo, Hwang Hee-chan, Son Heung-min and goalkeeper Jo Hyeon-woo.
For many different reasons, ASIAD 18 is the playground that the Korean U23 players are eager to conquer. Captain Son Heung-min really needs to win a medal in Indonesia to be exempted from military service in order to continue pursuing a professional career at Tottenham. For 26-year-old goalkeeper Jo Hyeon-woo, this is an opportunity that can help him improve his position and show his value when returning to the domestic tournament.

Possibility of clashing with Vietnam Olympic

List of Korean U23 team. Photo: Internet

In the men's football event of the 18th Asian Games, Korea is in Group E with the U23 teams of Bahrain, UAE, Malaysia and Kyrgyzstan. With an outstanding squad, the possibility of coach Kim Hak-bum's students winning Group E is completely predictable.

Meanwhile, the Vietnam Olympic team, whose main members are the squad that won the silver medal at the U23 Asian Cup, is in Group D with the Japanese Olympic team, Pakistan and Nepal. If they pass the group stage as the second place in Group D, the possibility of Vietnam Olympic team facing Son Heung-min and the Korean Olympic team is very high.

When he was in charge of the Korean football league, Mr. Kim Hakbum had many victories over Coach Park Hang Seo. But at the ASIAD 18 arena, this is the first time they have met. Maybe that's why experts from both countries are very interested in this interesting confrontation.

The biggest concern of the Korean coaching staff and players is the weather. Korea has a temperate climate, the hottest time here is from June to August, the average temperature is only about 25.4 degrees Celsius. Therefore, the hot and humid weather like Indonesia now becomes a problem that the Korean team is very concerned about.

An Thanh