Asian Games national team coach Hwang Seon-hong did not smile even after the first match of the group stage was marked by a huge win by 9 goals.
After beating Kuwait 9-0 in the first match of Group E of the men’s soccer group stage of the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games held at the Jinhua Sports Center in Hangzhou, China on the 19th, he said at a press conference, “This is the first of seven shots,” and “I think we need to be confident but forget about the rest.” “I think of today’s game as a one-shot, and I want to play it as a game without one,” he said.
In the group stage of this tournament, 23 countries will compete in 6 groups.바카라사이트
The 1st and 2nd place teams from each group, along with the 4 best performing 3rd place teams, advance to the round of 16.
The seven shots mentioned by coach Hwang Seon-hong is the maximum number of games, including the finals. In order to advance to the finals, you must play three group stage games plus the round of 16, quarterfinals, and semifinals.
However, there are two teams that can win the gold medal in just 5 games.
Group C is Uzbekistan and Hong Kong. Afghanistan and Syria, who were also in Group C, suddenly withdrew from participating in the tournament ahead of the opening, leaving only two teams in Group C. As the organizing committee decided to maintain the competition format, the two teams remaining in Group C naturally advanced to the round of 16.
The problem is that Uzbekistan is one of the favorites to threaten Korea in this tournament. Uzbekistan’s best performance in the Asian Games is the quarterfinals, but it is rapidly emerging as an Asian soccer powerhouse that threatens the systems of Korea, Japan, and Iran through systematic management of national teams by age group. They raised their status by finishing as runners-up to Saudi Arabia in the Under-23 Asian Cup held in their country in June last year, and passed the Under-23 Asian Cup qualifiers held earlier this month by winning all three matches. They defeated Myanmar 8-1, Hong Kong 10-0, and finally Iran 1-0. The team, which showed off its overwhelming power by scoring 19 goals while allowing only 1 goal, boarded a plane to Hangzhou.
According to the match schedule changed and released by the organizing committee on the 20th, the Uzbekistan-Afghanistan Syria-Hong Kong match scheduled for today and the Afghanistan-Syria Hong Kong-Afghanistan match scheduled for the 22nd were cancelled.
Instead, Uzbekistan and Hong Kong, who were scheduled to face each other on the 21st, will play the second match on the 25th. It is interpreted as a decision to determine Group C rankings with two games in consideration of fairness with other group teams that have a large number of games.
Also, not only is there a small number of games, but the weight is also low because advancement to the tournament has been confirmed. Moreover, Hong Kong is one of the weakest teams in this tournament. Uzbekistan is evaluated to have a high probability of winning even if it loses its starting player. This means that it is okay to use the main players in the tournament.
On the other hand, Korea, which played Kuwait on the 19th, must play Thailand on the 21st and then Bahrain on the 24th to advance to the tournament. There is only one day of rest between the first and second games. Not only Korea, but most teams have such tight schedules. Because the training on the 20th was about 12 hours after the game against Kuwait ended, 10 players attended, and players who started or played for a long time devoted themselves to recovery training at the hotel.
Coincidentally, Japan, another championship rival, also does not have a maximum number of games of 7. Japan was placed in Group D with three teams in the group draw, and was forced to play only two group stage games.
Meanwhile, the tournament bracket changed as the possibility of the third-place team in Group C advancing disappeared. The 1st place team in Group C will play the winner of the 3rd place team in Group E, which includes Korea, and the 3rd place team in Group F, in the round of 16.