“I will take responsibility” Chairman Jeong Hae-seong, “I am sorry to the Republic of Korea… My dream is to coach in Korea” Shin Tae-yong… Will there be a response?

The pain of South Korea’s failure to participate in the Olympics for the first time in 40 years was anticipated.

The Korean under-23 (U-23) Olympic team led by coach Hwang Sun-hong will participate in the 2024 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-23 Asian Cup and 2024 Paris held at the Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium in Doha, Qatar, at 2:30 a.m. on the 26th (Korean time). They faced Indonesia and lost in the quarterfinals of the Olympic Asia final qualifying round.

After finishing regular time tied 2-2, both teams were unable to determine a winner in overtime. The final winner was Indonesia. Korea was eliminated from the tournament, losing 10-11 in a penalty shootout.

As a result, Korean soccer will no longer be able to play at the Paris Olympics. This match was the 8th stage for the trip to Paris. The top 3rd place in the competition will advance directly to the Olympic finals, and the 4th place will qualify for an intercontinental playoff with Guinea in Africa. First, you had to advance to the semifinals to qualify for the finals.

However, Korea ended its journey in the quarterfinals, failing to become the first team in the world to advance to the Olympic finals for the 10th time in a row. It has been 40 years since the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics that Korean soccer has failed to compete in the Olympics.

The proud history of Korean soccer came to an end. Korea has advanced to the Olympic finals without missing a single event from the 1988 Seoul Olympics to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, becoming the first country in the world to participate in nine consecutive Olympics. However, Hwang Seon-hong’s shocking defeat ended his glorious footsteps. It was also the first time that Korea lost to Indonesia in the U-23 age group.

KFA formed a new Power Strengthening Committee under the leadership of Chairman Jeong Hae-seong and began searching for the next coach. The Power Strengthening Committee put emphasis on officially appointing a domestic coach, but faced opposition and decided to hold the A-match in March under a temporary head coach system. Surprisingly, the person who took over as interim head coach was coach Hwang Seon-hong, who was facing the important task of advancing to the Olympic finals.

Coach Hwang Seon-hong left his position at the most important time and took charge of the A national team. The U-23 national team had to play the final mock test, the West Asian Football Federation (WAFF) U-23 Championship, without a leader. As it was not enough to put all his effort into the Olympic qualifiers, coach Hwang Seon-hong had no choice but to prepare for both competitions at the same time, focusing on the A team’s World Cup Asian qualifiers.

Coach Hwang Seon-hong achieved some success with the A national team. Although they were disappointed with a draw with Thailand at home, they successfully completed their role with a 3-0 win away to Thailand.

However, the most important goal, advancing to the Olympic finals, was thwarted. KFA’s unreasonable choice has come back as a poison. In return, Korean soccer was unable to continue its proud 40-year history of advancing to the Olympics.

What responsibility can Chairman Jeong Hae-seong bear? He did not give in to criticism when he announced the appointment of coach Hwang Seon-hong as interim head coach last March. He said that he judged that he could sufficiently handle the two national teams and boasted, “This is not about passing responsibility. If the results are negative, I, as the chairman, will take full responsibility.”

Now the results are in. No one can deny that this is the negative result that Chairman Jeong Hae-seong mentioned. In what way will he take full responsibility? Failure to advance to the Olympic finals, which occurs once every four years, is not a problem that can be solved simply by Chairman Jeong Hae-sung resigning from his position.

On the other hand, coach Shin Tae-yong, who became Indonesia’s hero, said in an interview with the Korean media, “My honest feeling is that if Korea advances for the 10th consecutive time, it will be a record that will never be broken around the world. I also achieved 8 consecutive World Cup advancements at this stadium. “I wanted our director Hwang Seon-hong to create a record,” he said.

He continued, “I feel really sorry that I broke that record. It is not my dream for Indonesian soccer to participate in the World Cup if we advance to the third round of the World Cup qualifiers in the future. My last dream is to return to Korea and challenge again for the Korean national team. “He explained.

Meanwhile, coach Shin Tae-yong said, “I am sorry to the people of the Republic of Korea. I am truly sorry. The world of competition is cold. I am truly sorry for causing trouble to the people. However, I am working hard to promote national prestige in Indonesia.” / [email protected]

[OSEN=우충원 기자]