The 2023 FIFA Under-20 (U-20) World Cup, which draws attention as a gateway to the rising stars who will lead world football, opens in Santiago del Estero and San Juan, Argentina at 3:00 am on the 21st, Korean time. In the U-20 World Cup, the 2019 tournament’s top scorer, Elling Hollan (Manchester City), and the rising stars who grew up as the world’s best soccer stars in each tournament showed off their ‘talent’.
Korean soccer, which won the runner-up in the previous Polish tournament, the best performance in its history, takes on the challenge with the goal of ‘Again 2019’ in its heart. The national team, led by coach Kim Eun-joong, competes in Group F with France, Honduras and Gambia for the round of 16, where they are given second place.
The final entry for the 21-member national team was mostly filled with domestic players. Only Kim Yong-hak (Portimonense) and Lee Ji-han (Freiburg) are overseas, and 17 players are from the K-League. The number of players belonging to the K-League increased from the previous tournament (15).
In the last tournament, Lee Kang-in (Mallorca), who was the first Korean male player to receive the Golden Ball, the best player award in a FIFA competition, was the center of attention with 2 goals and 4 assists, but this time, defender Kim Ji-soo, who is receiving attention from Brentford (England) (Seongnam) and winger Kang Seong-jin (Seoul), who participated in 34 league games despite his young age last season and was nominated for the Young Player Award, are the key players 안전놀이터.
On the 7th, Kim Eun-joong-ho left for Sao Paulo, Brazil, a little early and warmed up. Argentina hosted the tournament after FIFA deprived Indonesia of the right to host the tournament ahead of the tournament due to strong anti-Israel sentiment against the host nation, Israel. From the standpoint of Korea, as the time difference increased from 2 hours to 12 hours, there were more variables to deal with, but they calmly completed training to adapt to the local area, winning both practice matches against club teams in Sao Paulo twice. Coach Kim, who moved to Mendoza, Argentina, the final battleground, said through the Korea Football Association on the 18th, “We have prepared well so far. The condition of the players is also good. I will prepare to be in the best condition on match day.”
In the first goal, the round of 16 challenge, it is evaluated that it is an easy grouping except for France, the winner of the 2013 tournament. However, the national team, which uses strong pressure and quick transfer of offense and defense as its color, has physical problems as its Achilles heel. This is because most of the U-20 national team players do not have a chance to play properly for their team. Ahead of the tournament, coach Kim confessed his concerns about physical fitness and sense of the game, saying, “As the R league (second team league) disappeared from the K League, the opportunity for young players to play has further decreased.”
Coach Kim, who has set passing the group stage as his first goal, is determined to engage in an all-out war against France on the 23rd in the first group F match. Kang Seong-jin said, “It is a competition that can only be entered once. I’ve been dreaming of it since I was young,” he said. “I have a different resolution. It can also be motivating. I will play hard and enjoy it as much as possible.”