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2 wins, 1 draw, 1 loss…Lost in the group stage at the 2010 Guangzhou Tournament
(Paju = Yonhap News) Reporter Ahn Hong-seok = Head coach Hwang Seon-hong, who leads the men’s soccer team at the Hangzhou Asian Games, was wary of North Korea, which has emerged as a ‘variable’ in the challenge for three consecutive championships.
Coach Hwang met with reporters prior to the call-up training held at the Paju NFC (National Football Team Training Center) on the 15th and said about North Korea, “I hope that we will not meet if possible because it is a team wrapped in a veil.”
Earlier on the 13th, Japan’s Kyodo News reported that North Korea plans to dispatch a 200-member team to the Asian Games in Hangzhou, which will be held in September.
ANN, a Japanese private broadcaster network, also reported that North Korea had registered a squad of hundreds of players.
Soccer, along with swimming and dragon boating, was selected as an event for North Korea to participate.
Korea, which won the 2014 Incheon Games and the 2018 Jakarta/Palembang Games, will challenge for the first time in history to win three consecutive championships in this competition.
In this situation, North Korea’s participation appeared as a ‘variable’.
Of course, the general opinion is that North Korea, which has not competed on the international stage for several years, will lag behind South Korea in terms of objective military power.
However, it is clearly a disturbing factor that Korean football does not know anything about North Korean football now, and there seems to be no way to know at the moment.
The fact that if the head-to-head confrontation is concluded, the degree of attention outside of sports will inevitably increase can also act as a burden on Hwang Seon-Hong-Ho.
Director Hwang said, “I had a little talk about North Korea (with the coaches) while having lunch today,” and “I think our analysis team should look at North Korea’s level or various situations in Hangzhou.”
In the match between the U-23 national team against North Korea, South Korea has a record of 2 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss.
They faced off once in China, but Korea lost.It was in the group stage of the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games.
At that time, North Korea advanced to the round of 16 with all three wins in the group stage, and was eliminated in the quarterfinals after losing to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in a penalty shootout.
South Korea advanced to the round of 16 after finishing second in their group, losing 0-1 to the UAE in the semifinals.In the end, I had to settle for a bronze medal.
The latest confrontation between South Korea and North Korea was the final of the 2014 Incheon Asian Games, at which time South Korea won the gold medal 1-0 with a winning goal by Lim Chang-woo (Gangwon).
On the other hand, when asked to pick a team to be wary of in this tournament, coach Hwang said, “There are several strong teams. Uzbekistan and Japan are continuing to train, and Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern countries are also very strong.” stand out,” he said.
“The results will vary depending on how we think and how we prepare,” he said.
