South Korean football is preparing for the final quenching as the opening of the Hangzhou Asian Games is just 30 days away.
Coach Hwang Sun-hong (55) will convene the Asian Games soccer team in Changwon on September 4. Unlike conventional training, which used to work together mainly in Korea, it is the start of the Asian Games gold medal challenge in that all overseas players are mobilized.
If South Korean soccer also reaches the top of the Hangzhou Asian Games, it will achieve its first three consecutive wins following the 2014 Incheon Games and the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Games. The honor of winning the most gold medals (five) cannot be missed.
Coach Hwang said in a telephone interview with a reporter, "We are trying to raise the organizational power of the players who passed the jade mask while uniting the players' condition cycles." Unlike domestic players, who are in the midst of the season, it is not easy for overseas players to raise their condition quickly as they have just begun the opening, but it is a necessary task to hold a big tournament.
The national team will train in Changwon until the 12th and move to the Paju Training Center on the 13th to conduct additional training until the 15th.
Hangzhou Road, China, where the competition will be held, will be passed on the 16th. Initially, coach Hwang wanted to leave the country on the 13th, but the training period in Korea was extended as the Hangzhou Asian Games Organizing Committee said it would support the training venue from the 16th.
Fortunately, South Korea is not expected to have much difficulty adapting to the region in that it will play the group stage (Kuwait, Thailand, and Bahrain) at China's Jinhwa Sports Center Stadium. This stadium is the place where South Korea held an away warm-up match against China in June.
Coach Hwang started preparing for the last minute of the Asian Games under a specific roadmap, but variables that are not easy to predict are still worrisome.
The biggest variable is the injury of Lee Kang-in (22, Paris Saint-Germain), who is also a key player. Lee Kang-in should be treated at least until the end of the A-match break in September due to an injury to his left thigh quadriceps (muscle in front of his thigh) on the 22nd. Fortunately, Lee Kang-in does not appear to be a major injury, but he has not spent much time training with existing players, which deepened his concerns.
Coach Hwang said, "I checked the player's physical condition through the club. "We are trying to approach it carefully because we cannot know the degree of injury only with data," he said. 스포츠토토
It is also unclear how the final list of the national team will be organized. It is also difficult to predict the vacancy of Lee Sang-min (Seongnam), who failed to check his drunk driving history due to administrative mistakes by the Korea Football Association. With the help of the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee, the association asked the Olympic Council of Asia to replace the roster.
However, the OCA should also be prepared to play with 21 players, not 22 players, given that they are not allowed to change the list if they are not injured. It is a big blow in that a packed schedule awaits every two to three days from the group stage to the final.
An official from the association said, "Everyone is looking for a way. I'm hoping to deliver good news," he said.