Unstoppable Korea add final touch to perfect tournament

South Korea's head coach Kim Hak-bum hold trophy with South Korea football team celebrate after AFC U-23 Championship 2020 final round at Rajamangala national stadium Bangkok, Thailand, Sunday. South Korea beat Saudi Arabia 1-0. / AP-Yonhap

By John Duerden

South Korea became the U23 Champions of Asia on Sunday, defeating Saudi Arabia 1-0 in the final in Bangkok. It was a deserved win, both on the day and in the tournament as a whole.

Korea won all six games and was the best team in all of them, except perhaps a frustrating opener with China. There were a series of impressive performances and the trophy heads to Seoul for the first time and it is sure to feature prominently on the first floor of KFA House in the capital's downtown.

The final goal came in the most simple of fashions. Korea had been denied a number of times by the Saudi goalkeeper and could not find a way through in the normal 90 minutes. The 30 minutes of extra-time were drawing to an end and a a penalty shootout loomed.

A free-kick was given just to the left of the Saudi area. The ball was swung over by Lee Dong-gyeong and there was Jung Tae-wook to cap a fine tournament and head home from close range. It was a fine tournament all round.?

While the trophy is welcome, the real prize was already in the bags of those returning to Korea: a place at the 2020 Olympics. Those Tokyo tickets took some of the pressure off against Saudi Arabia and robbed the final of some of the tension that would usually be associated with such occasions.

The hard work had already been done in the previous five games. Coach Kim Hak-bum reminded Korean soccer fans of his strategic soccer mind over the course of the past two weeks or so. He has used the roster to maximum effect. It is one thing to change the starting line-up with up to five or six new faces starting but another to do so and still produce a consistently high level of performance.

Players such as Kim Dae-won, Lee Dong-gyeong and Oh Se-hun came in and out of the starting eleven yet were still stars of the tournament. In fact, the 2-0 win over Australia in the semifinal was so dominant that it has provoked a spell of self-examination down under as media and fans, and presumably coaches, start to ask how Australia fell so far behind.

"It has been a real team effort," coach Kim said. "All the players have worked hard and have stayed focused all throughout the tournament and before. I want to thank them."

And vice versa. Kim will be well-placed to become the next senior team coach when Paulo Bento leaves the position, which will come after the 2022 World Cup, assuming that Korea qualifies. On the evidence of what we have seen in Thailand, if he makes that step up, many of the U23 players will be doing the same, and sooner rather than later.

Now though the focus will switch to the Olympics. The 2012 team managed to take bronze. On the evidence of this January, this new breed of South Korean players have what it takes to make the short journey to Japan and stay in the country for a long time.

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