International Football Federation (FIFA) Under-20 (U-20) World Cup 2 times in a row to advance to the final was unsuccessful, but Kim Eun-joong’s challenge was not over.
The Korean U-20 national team, led by coach Kim Eun-joong, will play against Israel at La Plata Stadium in Argentina on the 12th at 2:30 am (Korean time) for the 3rd and 4th place of the 2023 U-20 World Cup.
It is the last game of the national team, which began preparing for the U-20 World Cup in earnest with the appointment of coach Kim Eun-joong in December 2021.메이저놀이터
The national team, which did not receive much expectations and attention compared to the 2019 Poland tournament just before reaching the final and runner-up in the FIFA men’s competition for the first time, achieved the result of ‘advancing to the semifinals twice in a row’.
Starting with beating France 2-1 in the first game of the group stage, they went through the group stage with 1 win and 2 draws and advanced to the round of 16. I caught it and advanced to the river 4.
Expressions of regret.
Kim Eun-joong, who aimed for two consecutive finals based on ‘real soccer’, lost 1-2 in the semi-final against Italy on the 9th and was pushed back to the 3rd and 4th place.
The players shed tears when the final goal from a free kick at the end of the second half ruined their dream of reaching the final despite showing a performance that was not inferior to strong Italy, but Kim Eun-joong shook off his regret and began to regain his composure little by little.
Finishing a tournament with victory or defeat is a big difference in itself, and the weight of ‘3rd’ and ‘4th’ is also different. His standing medals are also given only up to 3rd place.
During the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup, the Korean men’s soccer team, including the adult national team, has never won a FIFA World Cup 3rd place match for adults or age groups, so this match against Israel is also an opportunity to add another record.
In the bronze medal match at the 2012 London Olympics, the then national team led by coach Hong Myung-bo beat Japan 2-0 with goals from Park Ju-young and Koo Ja-cheol.
(La Plata = Yonhap News) Reporter Lim Hwa-young = In the first half match between Korea and Italy in the semi-finals of the 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup held at La Plata Stadium in Argentina on the afternoon of the 8th (local time) Lee Seung-won scores the equalizer. 2023.6.9 hwayoung7@yna.co.kr
‘Captain’ Lee Seung-won (Gangwon), who raised the same offensive points as Lee Kang-in (Mallorca), the best player in the tournament four years ago, with 2 goals and 4 assists in this tournament, and Bae Jun-ho (Daejeon), who showed off his brilliant individual skills in the match against Italy and praised even the enemy captain, Israel. Shake the defense and lean on it.
After the semi-finals, coach Kim Eun-joong, who said, “The players will be mentally very difficult, but I want to play a good game without regrets as it is the last game of our U-20,” emphasizes ‘responsibility’ to the players and promises the beauty of the end.
Frontline striker Lee Yeong-jun (Kimcheon) also expressed his determination to win, saying, “It’s really the last time with my friends and coaches who I’ve had a lot of conversations with since last year, but I want to finish with a smile and do my best without regret.
The opponent, Israel, is a team that is driving a lot of topics by advancing to the U-20 World Cup finals for the first time in history.
The tournament was originally scheduled to be held in Indonesia, but when Israel advanced to the finals, anti-Israel public opinion in Indonesia, an Islamic country, intensified, and FIFA stripped the right to host it with less than two months left before the opening.
Israel, which has changed the venue of the tournament, also attracted attention in terms of performance.
After defeating Japan 2-1 in the group stage, they advanced to the round of 16 with great success.
In the semi-finals, they lost 0-1 to Uruguay, and they were in the 3rd and 4th place matches, but they have already made a new history with their current results.
Israel scored all eight goals in the second half and overtime. For Kim Eun-joong, it has emerged as the key to maintaining concentration until the last minute while he is already struggling physically with many matches.
Striker Dor Turgeman (Maccabi Tel Aviv), who scored the final goal against Brazil, is considered a target to be wary of.
Korea has faced Israel 7 times in the U-20 national team unit and has never won against Israel, only 3 draws and 4 losses.