PSG signing Lee Kang-in, ‘military service key’ AG Ghana?…Hwang Sun-hong-ho to announce final list on Thursday→Wildcards also ‘focus attention’
Head coach Hwang Sun-hong will announce the roster of the Korean men’s soccer team for the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games in September.
“Coach Hwang Sun-hong will hold a press conference on Thursday at 2 p.m. at the Jongno Football Hall in Jongno-gu, Seoul, to announce the men’s national soccer team roster for the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games,” the Korea Football Association said on Wednesday.
South Korea won gold at both the 2014 Incheon Asian Games and the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Games, and Hwang has been preparing since 2021 with the goal of winning the Asian Games and qualifying for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The Hangzhou Asian Games were originally scheduled to be held in 2022, but were postponed by one year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the age limit for competitors was raised by one year to 24 and under (born in 1999). The final roster has also been increased to 22 athletes, with a maximum of five substitutions allowed during competition, the same as in Tokyo.
Hwang will have a wider range of players to choose from now that the tournament has been postponed by a year, and the increased number of substitutions and final roster spots will allow him to make a variety of changes.
Those born in 1999 who are currently eligible to join the national team include Uhm Won-sang (Ulsan Hyundai), Cho Young-wook (Gimcheon Commerce), Ko Jae-hyun (Daegu FC), and Choi Jun (Busan I-Park), who were runners-up at the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Poland, as well as Jung Woo-young (Stuttgart) and Hong Hyun-seok (Ghent).
Among them, Uhm Won-sang, Jung Woo-young, and Hong Hyun-seok are highly skilled players who have played for the senior national team until recently, so they are expected to make a mark in the Hwangsun Hongho.
Lee Kang-in, who is now more familiar with A-match action than Hwang Sun-hong-ho, is also expected to join the squad. Lee played with the senior national team alongside Jürgen Klinsmann in an exhibition match against China last month, but is expected to be part of the squad for the Asian Games.
Hwang also called up Lee for the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-23 Asian Cup in March last year. Despite South Korea’s disappointing quarterfinal exit at the tournament, Lee excelled in three of the team’s four matches.
Lee is expected to lead the team’s attack from the No. 10 role when he joins the squad. He can link up well with the likes of Jung Woo-young and Uhm Won-sang in the second line, and his ability to hit the box directly has improved in recent years, making him a key source of offense for South Korea.
In addition, Lee Kang-in will be eligible for military service if he wins the tournament, which could be an added positive for him to join the national team. In addition to Lee, other key players such as Jung Woo-young, Hong Hyun-seok, and Yang Hyun-joon are also eligible for military service. However, the Asian Games are not a FIFA-recognized compulsory call-up tournament, so we’re curious to see how the KFA, Lee Kang-in, and PSG worked out the arrangement.
Alongside the question of whether Lee and other key players will be included in the final roster, another area of interest is the wild card (24+). In this tournament, up to three of the 22 final roster players can be used as wildcards.
Hwang has already told reporters after last month’s game against China, “We will use all three. There are many players who are competitive in the existing age groups, so we will consider a ‘wild card’ that can have a synergistic effect.” The wild card will most likely be placed in the spine line of goalkeeper, central midfielder, and frontline striker.
For this tournament, the wildcard will most likely go to a player who has excelled in K League 1 but has not yet completed his military service. However, this year’s wildcard candidates lack the weight of players from previous tournaments.
The last two editions of the tournament were won by Kim Seung-kyu (Al Shabab), Park Joo-ho (retired), Kim Shin-wook (Kitsch SC), Cho Hyun-woo (Ulsan), Son Heung-min (Tottenham), and Hwang Eui-jo (FC Seoul), all of whom have excelled in their respective national teams and leagues. The other nominees, Lee In-gyu, Seol Young-woo (Ulsan Hyundai), and Baek Seung-ho (Jeonbuk Hyundai), are also considered outstanding players in the K League, but it’s hard to deny that they lack the weight of the aforementioned players 메이저사이트.
Especially in the frontline, with Oh Hyun-gyu and Oh Se-hoon already cleared of their military service issues, Hwang Sun-hong will have his work cut out for him in selecting a wildcard, as the lack of international experience could prove to be a worrying factor throughout the Asian Games.