10 people sent off in the group stage alone… Hwang Seon-hong, red card alert

‘Beware of the red card.’

A red card alert was issued to the Korean U23 national team in the quarterfinals of the 2024 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U23 Asian Cup against Indonesia.

Korea, led by coach Hwang Seon-hong, will play the quarterfinals against Indonesia at the Abdullah Bin Khalifa Stadium in Qatar at 2:30 a.m. on the 26th (Korean time).

This tournament has a particularly large number of exits. Now that 16 teams have completed the group stage, as many as 10 people have been sent off.

Although no one came out from Korea, there were expulsions from Korea’s quarterfinal opponent Indonesia (2 people), Kuwait (3 people), Iraq, Japan, Jordan, Malaysia, and Vietnam (1 person above).

Considering that 12 people were ejected from national team A’s Asian Cup earlier this year, in which 24 teams participated, we can estimate how many people were ejected from this tournament.

Korea should not overlook the trend of frequent red cards in this tournament.

Korea also had a dizzying experience in the third match against Japan in the group stage on the 22nd. In the 9th minute of the second half, Kim Dong-jin (Pohang) made a somewhat high tackle on Kawasaki Sota. Fortunately, it was only a warning, but depending on the time of day, there was nothing to say even if a sending off was given. Given the flow of the game at the time, if he had been sent off, victory against Japan could not have been guaranteed.

In addition, the captain and key defender Byun Jun-su (Gwangju) received one warning in each of the first and second games and missed the third game, clearly feeling the heavy impact of the disciplinary action.

The quarterfinal opponent, Indonesia, is a team that is good at rough tackling and fighting nerves. Against the strong team Korea, they can apply even harsher pressure and tackles. In addition, the fact that it is led by coach Shin Tae-yong, who knows Korea well and is a man of many talents, is also a variable.

If Korea gets caught up in this, there is a possibility that it could become the 11th player to be ejected from this tournament. This is a time when wise and calm management of the game is necessary.

(Seoul = News 1)