‘A twist of fate’ Hwang Seon-hong and Shin Tae-yong clash with Indonesia… A battle unfolds ahead of a new history.

[골닷컴] Reporter Lee Jeong-bin = Coach Hwang Seon-hong met coach Shin Tae-yong on the road to qualifying for the Paris Olympics. The Republic of Korea U-23 soccer team will play against the Indonesian national team in the quarterfinals of the tournament. A fierce competition is expected as the team that overcomes this threshold can secure a spot in the intercontinental playoffs for the Paris Olympics.

The Korean U-23 national team, led by coach Hwang Seon-hong, will play the quarterfinals of the 2024 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-23 Qatar Asian Cup against Indonesia at Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium in Doha, Qatar, at 2:30 a.m. on the 26th (Korean time). The winner of this match will face the winner of the match between Uzbekistan and Saudi Arabia for a ticket to the finals of the tournament.

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Korea, which formed ‘Group B of Death’ with its archrival Japan, China, and the United Arab Emirates, passed the group stage with ease by winning all three matches. Although they lost both starting center backs Byun Jun-soo (Gwangju FC) and Myung-gwan Seo (Bucheon FC) ahead of the important game against Japan, Coach Hwang defeated Japan 1-0 with an organic position change and Kim Min-woo (Dusseldorf)’s winning goal. .

Hwang Seon-hong, who secured his place in the group’s 1st place and advanced to the quarterfinals, was expected to meet either the host nation, Qatar, or the dark horse, Australia, but a surprise occurred as Indonesia pushed out Australia and took second place in the group. Coach Shin Tae-yong showed leadership by leading Indonesia to the quarterfinals of the tournament. Indonesia, a member of Group A, lost to Qatar, but confirmed its own advancement to the tournament by defeating Australia and Jordan in turn.

Coach Shin Tae-yong, who leads Indonesia, is the leader who knows Korea best. Because he has worked as a K-League and national team coach for a long time, he has a thorough understanding of domestic soccer, and at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, he served as the coach of the A national team and caused the ‘Miracle of Kazan’ by defeating Germany, the best team of the time.

Coach Shin Tae-yong, who has been coaching the Indonesian national team since 2020, has created several histories here, and this time, he is looking at a new history: advancing to the Olympics. In order for both teams to create new history, they must cross the single-wood bridge while pointing their spears at each other. If Korea is confirmed to advance to the Paris Olympics, it will be able to become the first team in Olympic soccer history to advance to the finals 10 times in a row.

After the match against Japan, coach Hwang Seon-hong said on the AFC official website, “It is not easy to face any team in a competition like this. I did my best to win. “It is a difficult situation due to injury issues among the players, but I would like to praise our players for giving their all in this game.”

Regarding meeting coach Shin Tae-yong, he said, “The game against Japan is only the beginning, not the end, of the tournament. Indonesia is also a very competitive team. “We need to do our best to prepare for the next game,” he said.