South Korea’s men’s soccer Asian Games team, led by head coach Hwang Sun-hong, has embraced its final mission of building a solid organization before the arrival of “ace” Lee Kang-in (Paris Saint-Germain).
Hwang will depart for Hangzhou, the host city of the 2023 Asian Games, on Saturday at 12:25 p.m. via Incheon International Airport Terminal 1. The team will head to the battleground city after resolving the issue of Lee Kang-in’s withdrawal.
As the Asian Games are not organized by the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), Lee is not obligated to play. This requires a separate agreement with the club. PSG had until the 13th to respond, but Hwang didn’t get a clear answer.
“PSG hasn’t said when they will send Lee Kang-in. It’s frustrating that we can’t seem to coordinate well.” Lee’s presence is crucial to South Korea’s gold medal hopes, so much so that the coach openly complained.
Fortunately, the issue was resolved before he left the country. “After discussions with PSG, it was finally agreed that Lee Kang-in will join the national team after the end of the home game on the 19th local time in France,” the Korea Football Association said on the 15th, “Lee Kang-in will travel to Hangzhou, China on the 20th local time to join the national team.”
Initially, PSG had hoped to use the trip to the Asian Games as an excuse to play in next January’s Asian Cup in Qatar, similar to how Tottenham made Son Heung-min’s participation in the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang tournament a condition of his participation in November’s A-League match and the first two rounds of the 2019 United Arab Emirates (UAE) Asian Cup five years ago.
While this could have had an impact on the Asian Games, another pride of Korean soccer, the team announced that it had finalized the arrangement without any conditions, saying, “We have received an official response from the national team that allows us to join the team without any other prerequisites.”
It would have been great if Lee had joined the team before the start of the first round, but now it’s time for him to work for the best under the given conditions.
Football is a team sport. No matter how much better Lee Kang-in is than other Asian players his age, there is a limit to how much he can shine alone. Instead, if the team is well organized and cohesive as a unit, the synergy will be even stronger when the ace arrives.
For now, it’s more likely that Lee Kang-in will take the field against Bahrain on the 24th than against Thailand on the 21st. The odds are also in South Korea’s favor.
Barring any upsets, South Korea can win both their first and second games to secure an early exit from the tournament. 온라인바카라 They have the power and the organization to do so.
With two wins in a row, they can go into the third game with less pressure. Even if Lee Kang-in joins the team midway through the tournament, it’s a great opportunity to work with him in practice. All of the risks can be addressed heading into the tournament.
If Lee Kang-in can find his best form and game sense before Hwang Sun-hong joins, and the team stays together until the ace arrives, South Korea’s third consecutive Asian Games title will be a reality.