toto365090   Album Posted Mar.24th, 2024, viewed 56 times

Hwang Sun-hong without Hwang Sun-hong, defeated Saudi Arabia to go to the final

The Korean U-23 national soccer team beat Saudi Arabia 1-0 in the semifinals of the tournament held at Al Fate Stadium in Al Mubaraj, Saudi Arabia, on Monday. Um Ji-sung of Gwangju scored the winning goal in the 41st minute of the first half.

Head coach Myung Jae-yong is leading the tournament as Hwang Sun-hong, who leads the U-23 national team, takes over as the "interim head coach" of the national soccer team, which will host the second round of the 2026 North-China World Cup qualifiers.

South Korea, which continued fierce battle with Saudi Arabia throughout the first half, took the lead with Um Ji-sung's first goal in the 41st minute. When the ball that was put in from the back passed by the Saudi defender, Bae Joon-ho (Stoke City) caught it and stabbed it forward. Um Ji-sung flooded the pass and shot it with his right foot, shaking the Saudi net.

Team Korea, which finished the first half 1-0, continued its offense in the second half. In the 15th minute of the second half, players from both teams flocked to the Saudi Arabian team and engaged in a war of nerves when a Saudi player was pushed over by Hong Si-hoo (Incheon) while competing with Saudi Arabia for an aerial ball.

Korea continued its offense by deploying Yang Hyun-joon (Celtic), Kang Hyun-mook (Gimcheon), and Hwang Jae-won (Daegu). Saudi Arabia's counterattack was not easy, but its defense calmly blocked it to maintain the win by one goal.

South Korea will face Australia in the final. It will have a showdown with Australia for the title at 5 a.m. on Tuesday. Australia tied Egypt 1-1 in the semifinal, and advanced to the final after winning 2-1 in penalty shootout.

This event is a prelude to the 2024 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-23 Asian Cup, which will be held in Qatar starting from May 15 as part of the Asian qualifying round for the 2024 Paris Olympics. Eight countries, including South Korea, which aims to advance to the Olympic finals for the 10th consecutive time, and Australia, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Thailand and the United Arab Emirates, participated in the event. 스포츠중계