Taeguk Warriors, kind of, return to action

South Korea's national football team head coach Paulo Bento speaks during press conference at the Paju National Football Center in Gyeonggi Province, Sunday. / Yonhap

By John Duerden

Friday was Hangeul Day in South Korea, a holiday to celebrate the invention of the country's alphabet, though it is hard to decipher much meaning from the evening meeting between the national team and the Under-23 team.

They played out a 2-2 draw with the U-23 team in the city of Goyang to give the Taeguk Warriors their first taste of action in 2020. It almost ended in embarrassment for the seniors.

It took a goal a minute before the end from Lee Jung-hyub to deny the youngsters the victory that their performance deserved.

The seniors took the lead after 15 minutes through Lee Ju-yong but soon after the break Song Min-gyu made it 1-1. Then Kwon Kyung-won scored an own goal to put the U-23 team ahead before Lee's late intervention earned both teams a share of the spoils.

With no overseas-based players ― such as the red-hot Son Heung-min of Tottenham Hotspur ― called due to the 14-day quarantine period required of all arrivals into the country, it is not too surprising that the Taeguk Warriors looked disjointed.

Even so, the coach of the U-23 team Kim Hak-beom was not satisfied with his players even though they made it hard to tell which team was the senior and which was the U-23.

"We didn't execute most of what we'd planned to do, and I don't know if I can even give them 50 out of 100 points. I am going to give them an earful," Kim said. "We needed to be faster on the attack."

The two will meet again on Tuesday and the overall winner of the games will have the right to donate 100 million won (around $87,000) to the national fight against COVID-19.

Earlier on Friday, there was news for the four K League clubs regarding the rest of the 2020 AFC Champions League. The group stage of the continental competition had barely started when it was suspended in March due to the coronavirus.

Games involving Suwon Bluewings, Jeonbuk Motors, FC Seoul and Ulsan Horangi have been pushed back and back until there is no more leeway. The latest date is November but the problem was travel restrictions in East Asia meaning the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) was struggling to find a host.

Qatar has stepped in and will stage all the remaining games from the resumption on Nov. 18 to the final a month later. It could mean as many as nine games in a month.

The Champions League is divided into two geographic zones until the final. It was all a bit chaotic with defending champions Al-Hilal of Saudi Arabia forced to withdraw after the coronavirus outbreak meant they could not field a full starting 11.

The AFC is working hard to ensure that does not happen again.

“Everything from the arrival of the teams, the efficient immigration process, the rigorous health screenings, hotels with biosecurity measures, to the state-of-the-art training facilities and stadiums were of the highest possible standard as the AFC insisted that the welfare and well-being of the players, officials and match officials was our top priority,” said Dato Windsor John, the AFC's General Secretary.

The games against Australia, China, Japan, Thailand and Malaysia will be squeezed into a short period but at least the K League season will be done and dusted by then. There will be a lot of aching limbs but at least there is a chance to try and finish Asia's biggest club competition.