Hwang Sun-hong lost to Indonesia, Shin Tae-yong, who met on the way to Paris, after a penalty shootout battle, and failed to advance to the Olympic finals for 10 consecutive times.
South Korea’s under-23 (U-23) national soccer team, led by head coach Hwang Sun-hong, lost 10-11 in the shootout after drawing 2-2 in the quarterfinals of the 2024 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-23 Asian Cup against Indonesia at Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium in Doha, Qatar, on the 26th (Korea time).
South Korean soccer, which holds the world record for the most consecutive Olympic appearances (nine times), challenged the Olympic finals for 10 consecutive times since the 1988 Seoul Olympics, but was eliminated by Indonesia in the quarterfinals.
It is the first time in 40 years that Korean soccer has not made the Olympic finals since the 1984 Olympics.
He won his first-ever bronze medal at the 2012 London Games, and advanced to the quarterfinals at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro and 2020 Tokyo Games in a row, but failed to qualify for the Olympics this time.
The only way to advance to the finals at the Olympics is if it is in the top three. The fourth place finisher can play a playoff against Guinea, the fourth-ranked team in Africa, to advance to the finals at the Olympics.
However, as he fell out of the quarterfinals, his hopes of advancing to the Olympic finals disappeared.
Hwang passed the group league as No. 1 in Group B of all three games. He gained momentum by beating his fateful rival, Japan, 1-0, in the third game.
However, despite winning consecutive games, the poor performance that had been feared throughout the tournament was hampered.
Vacancies in European leagues such as Bae Joon-ho (Stoke City), Yang Hyun-joon (Celtic), and Kim Ji-soo (Brentford), who failed to move due to opposition from their teams, led to weakening power.
In addition, the main defender, Seo Myung-kwan, suffered a hamstring (muscle behind the thigh) injury in the second game against China, and followed the bad news of his injury.
On the other hand, Shin Tae-yong, who put a dagger in his country, advanced Indonesia to the semifinals and crossed the seventh ridge to advance to the Paris Olympics finals.
Team Shin Tae-yong will compete with the winner of the Uzbekistan-Saudi Arabia match at the same venue at 11 p.m. on the 29th to advance to the finals.
Coach Shin, who extended his contract with Indonesia until 2027 ahead of the Korean match, will be able to cross the first quarterfinals and semifinals of the U-23 Asian Cup to the Olympic finals.
Indonesia will try to make the Olympic finals for the first time in 68 years since the 1956 Melbourne Games.
Coach Hwang Sun-hong once again operated a 3-4-3 formation based on a three-back following the Korea-Japan match. 스포츠토토
Kang Sung-jin of Seoul made a surprise appearance at the front line one-top, instead of “soldier striker” Lee Young-joon of Gimcheon. Kang, who first started in the second group match against China, had a second chance to start.
Um Ji-sung (Gwangju) and Hong Si-hoo (Incheon) were placed on the left and right sides.
In the midfield, Kim Dong-jin (Pohang) and Baek Sang-hoon (Seoul) were in charge of coordinating the offense and defense, while Lee Tae-seok (Seoul) and Hwang Jae-won (Daegu) were on the side.