Hwang Sun-hong, the head coach of the South Korean men’s national soccer team, was coy on the future of Lee Kang-in (Paris Saint-Germain) after the team clinched a spot in the round of 16 after two games at the Hangzhou Asian Games.
Hwang’s side cruised to a 4-0 victory over Thailand in their second match of Group E at the FIFA World Cup on June 21 at the Jinhua Sports Center Stadium in Zhejiang, China.
“For that part, we need to check (the player’s) physical condition,” Hwang said at the post-match press conference when asked when Lee Kang-in would be available, adding, “It’s premature to talk about it here.”
“We will consider many things. For now, yes,” he added.
“Reaching the final tournament is something to celebrate, but there is no satisfaction until you win the gold medal,” he emphasized.
Lee arrived in Hangzhou ahead of this afternoon’s game and watched his teammates perform from the stands instead of the bench.
Huang had a 20-minute conversation with Lee on the bench as the players warmed up before the game.
“It was a time to share opinions with each other,” Huang said.
“The goal we set is clear,” Hwang said. We talked about what we need to do to achieve it,” he said. “Lee Kang-in also gave his opinion, and it was a time to share that.”
He continued, “I have my own thoughts, but I also have the players’ thoughts. It’s important to share the same thoughts.” “We talked about that selflessly. I think it was a time of great contact,” he added.
While Hwang was pleased with his team’s four-goal first-half performance, he was not pleased with the second half in which they failed to add to their lead.
“I’m not happy with the second half today because we were sloppy. I think we need to play with a sense of urgency for the whole 90 minutes,” Hwang said, “and that’s what I’m trying to emphasize to the players.”
“I think the second half was not smooth in terms of balance. It’s a shame. We need to improve and prepare.”
Having secured a spot in the round of 16 with a top spot in the group after two games, Hwang’s next agenda is to find new combinations.
“We have a lot of new players. “We haven’t been able to train together as a whole, so we need to focus on combinations and prepare for the third round (of the group stage),” he said.
“We will also use the third round as a step to prepare for the round of 16 tournament,” he added. 안전놀이터