Hwang Seon-hong and Shin Tae-yong's quarterfinal clash with Indonesia

South Korea's U-23 national soccer team players are training at Al Ersal Training Center in Doha, Qatar, on the 24th.

Shin Tae-yong and Hwang Sun-hong.

Hwang Sun-hong will clash with Indonesia of Shin Tae-yong, who is well versed in Korean soccer.

South Korea's U-23 national team, led by head coach Hwang Sun-hong, will play in the quarterfinals of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-23 Qatar Asian Cup against Indonesia at 2:30 a.m. on the 26th at Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium in Doha, Qatar.

Korea, which was considered to be in the group of death before the Asian Games, beat Japan after the United Arab Emirates and China to rank No. 1 in the group of three consecutive games. Korea did not concede a single goal in the process. Notably, in the match against Japan, Korea even operated a rotation to allocate physical stamina for its main players.

Korea`s next opponent, who proudly passed the group stage, is Indonesia. Indonesia will play at the U-23 Asian Cup for the first time. The team lost to Qatar in its first match, but advanced to the quarterfinals by defeating Australia and Jordan.

Shin Tae-yong, the head coach of the Indonesian U-23 national soccer team, talks with players at the training ground of Qatar University in Doha, Qatar, on the 24th.

At the center of his performance was Shin Tae-yong's leadership. Called the "Fox in the Ground" during his active career, he is said to have raised the level of Indonesian soccer to the next level. He knows Korean soccer very well.

Shin served as coach starting as acting coach of the Korean A national team in 2014. He led the U-23 national team to the 2016 Rio Olympics, and participated in the FIFA U-20 World Cup in 2017 to reach the round of 16. Since then, he has officially taken the helm of the A national team and started participating in the FIFA 2018 Russia World Cup. This is why Hwang chose Shin as Indonesia's strength.

Shin also said that Korea is under pressure. "My heart was that Korea must avoid it, but I ended up advancing to the quarterfinals like a joke of fate," Shin said. "I always tried my best singing the national anthem at competitions, but playing against Korea is psychologically challenging."

Coach Shin Tae-yong.

It is a welcome encounter, but Hwang also cannot afford to give up. The upcoming event will also serve as a preliminary match for Asia for the 2024 Paris Olympics. If the team ranks third, it will advance directly to the finals for the Olympics. The fourth place finisher should play a playoff against Guinea, which is ranked fourth in the African regional preliminaries. To at least get a chance to play in the playoffs, Hwang must win the quarterfinal match.

Coach Hwang said, "It is important for both us and Indonesia to leave behind their personal feelings and play a good game normally," adding, "We will prepare to win unconditionally." He pointed out the point, wary of Indonesian mixed-race players, saying, "It is important whether the opponent can keep the space tight throughout the 90 minutes because he has technical strengths."

Korea has a gap in offense and defense. Striker Ahn Jae-joon and central defender Suh Myung-kwan (Bucheon FC) left the team due to injury in their hamstring. With Suh not coming out, Hwang said, "It is not easy for Ahn to play in this game."

Coach Hwang Sun-hong.

Since the 1998 Seoul Olympics, Korea has made the Olympic finals for nine consecutive times. It is a new world record. In addition, Korea aims to become the first country in the world to achieve 10 consecutive finals titles through the Paris Olympics. "We will control our opponents' strengths and exert our strengths," Hwang said.

Meanwhile, Indonesia is aiming to advance to the Olympic finals for the first time in 68 years since the 1956 Melbourne Games by banking on Shin. If Indonesia beats Korea and advances to the semifinals, chances are even higher that Korea will realize its dream. "Korean players are originally tough opponents as they are strong and have strong fighting power," Shin said. "We can only win if we break that point." 토토사이트 순위