Korea coach wary of upstart Indonesia at Olympic football qualifiers
Korea head coach Hwang Sun-hong prepares for his team's Group B match against Japan at the Asian Football Confederation U-23 Asian Cup at Jassim bin Hamad Stadium in Al Rayyan, Qatar, in this file photo provided by the Korea Football Association, April 22. Yonhap
On paper, Korea should have little trouble handling Indonesia when they clash in the first knockout match of the Olympic men's football qualifying tournament later this week in Qatar.
But Korea head coach Hwang Sun-hong understands football is played on the pitch, not on paper. He wants his players to be on their toes Thursday night when the two countries square off in the quarterfinals of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-23 Asian Cup.
That Indonesia are coached by former Korea boss Shin Tae-yong will only add to the intrigue.
This meeting was set up after Korea defeated Japan 1-0 Monday afternoon to clinch the top seed in Group B with nine points. Indonesia had secured the runner-up spot out of Group A on Sunday by beating Jordan 4-1, their second win in the group phase.
This AFC tournament doubles as the Asian qualifiers for the Paris Olympics. The top three teams — the two finalists and the winner of the third-place match — will grab their tickets to France, while the fourth-place team will fall to an intercontinental playoff against Guinea.
The quarterfinals showdown, then, is a must-win match for both teams. Korea will try to extend their Olympic appearance streak to 10, while Indonesia will eye a return to the quadrennial competition for the first time since 1956.
Hwang thanked his players for executing their game plan against Japan but otherwise didn't see much cause for celebration yet.
"The real competition begins now, and we have to be prepared against Indonesia," Hwang said at Jassim bin Hamad Stadium in Al Rayyan, west of Doha. "They won't be an easy team to play against, and we have to work really hard to accomplish our goal."
Midfielder Kim Min-woo, who scored the 75th-minute winner against Japan, offered an early scouting report on Indonesia.
"Their players are energetic, and they cover a lot of ground," he said. "They can make some quick one-two passes."
Korean players congratulate Kim Min-woo, second from left, after Kim scored against Japan during the teams' Group B match at the Asian Football Confederation U-23 Asian Cup at Jassim bin Hamad Stadium in Al Rayyan, Qatar, April 22. AFP-Yonhap
Hwang, 55, and Shin, 53, are no strangers to each other. Their playing days overlapped in the 1990s, as they carved out wildly successful club and international careers. The two have been talking and texting each other throughout this competition in Qatar.
"We chatted before our Japan match, and we talked about how we could potentially meet each other in the quarterfinals. That has become a reality," Hwang said. "I've been pleasantly surprised to see how coach Shin has built a really good team with Indonesia. They've been playing really well, and we'll have to be well prepared to be able to beat them."
Hwang said he was able to do some experimenting, as far as lineup combinations and substitution patterns, against Japan. While Hwang understood the magnitude of any Korea-Japan rivalry match, he also tried not to place too much importance on this particular showdown because both countries had already secured their knockout spots beforehand.
Against Japan, Hwang replaced 10 players from the starting lineup that had faced China last Friday, though it wasn't all by design.
"We had some injuries, and so we had to rotate our players and try to find the best combination," Hwang said. "There's always pressure whenever we face Japan, but we also knew this wasn't going to be our final match of the tournament. So we didn't consider this one to be extra special. We ran some experiments, and we gained a great deal from this win. I want to thank my players for making it all possible." (Yonhap)