South Korea’s Under-23 National Team head coach Hwang Sun-hong has said that the upcoming Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-23 Asian Cup qualifier against eventual champions Qatar is a good opportunity to test the team’s competitiveness.
Hwang attended an official press conference at the Changwon Mo Hotel on Friday, a day ahead of the qualifiers, which will be held at the Changwon Football Center from June 6-12. In addition to Hwang, the coaches of Qatar Valle Iliidou (Qatar), Nai Aung (Myanmar), and Anabek Olmombekov (Kyrgyzstan), who are also participating in the qualifiers, were present.
In Group B of the 2024 AFC U-23 Asian Cup Qualifiers, which also serves as the first Asian qualifier for the Paris Olympics, South Korea will play Qatar on June 6, Kyrgyzstan on June 9 and Myanmar on June 12.
A total of 16 teams will qualify for the U-23 Asian Cup, including the top four teams from each of the 11 qualifying groups and the top four teams from Group 2, as well as host Qatar.
The 2024 AFC U-23 Asian Cup will be held in April next year as the final Asian qualifier for the Paris Olympics. The top three teams from the tournament will qualify directly for the Olympic Games, while the fourth-placed team will have to play a playoff against the fourth-placed team from the African qualifiers for the Olympic berth.
With the tournament being the first gateway to Paris, the national coaches are keen to qualify for the U-23 Asian Cup. “We are ready,” said Aung. We participated in the AFF Championship in Thailand and gained experience. We had a very short time to prepare for this tournament. However, we have prepared well and will do our best.”
Hwang added: “All four teams will have prepared well for this tournament and the U-23 Asian Cup. “Since we are playing at home, we will try to win all our matches with good performances, as well as qualify for the main tournament,” said Hwang. We are determined to show good results.”
Ilidiu is taking part in the tournament after just two days in charge of the Qatar U-22s. “I’ve only been in charge for two days, so the preparation period is very short. But the goal is clear. For me, this tournament will be the best way to get to know my players and the team.” 바카라사이트
“We had a two-week training camp,” said Olmubekov. We have a few players who have been called up to the national team. The difficulty is the weather. Of course, we’ve adapted well to it now.”
Qatar, who face South Korea on June 6, are the hosts of the tournament and their qualifying results will not count towards the actual group standings. The match against South Korea on Saturday will be a friendly.