Hwang Seon-hong, with Lee Kang-in as the starter, finished with a scoreless win until the last game of the group stage.
In the third match of Group E of the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games men’s soccer group stage held at the Jinhua Sports Center Stadium in China on the 24th, the team defeated Bahrain 3-0 thanks to consecutive goals by Han-beom Lee, Seung-ho Baek, and Young-jun Ko in the second half.
Korea, which maintained the lead from the start of the game until the final whistle sounded, scored three goals in the second half alone to achieve a scoreless victory by three goals.
Korea won 9-0 against Kuwait in the first game on the 19th and 4-0 against Thailand in the second game on the 21st, confirming first place in Group E and passing the group stage after two games. Korea advanced to the group stage with 9 points from 3 wins in 3 games. The league has concluded.
They also headed into the tournament with a record of being a team without conceding a goal while scoring 15 goals.
Korea will clash with Kyrgyzstan, second place in Group F, at the Jinhwa Sports Center Stadium on the 27th for a ticket to the quarterfinals.
Coach Hwang Seon-hong, who declared victory even after securing first place in the group, drew up a starting list of players who played in the first game, including Lee Kang-in, Cho Young-wook, Jung Woo-young, and Lee Han-beom. Without captain Baek Seung-ho, Hong Hyun-seok and Jeong Ho-yeon took charge of the midfield, and goalkeeper Min Seung-jun wore goalkeeper gloves for the first time in this tournament.
Lee Kang-in, who was at the forefront along with Cho Young-wook, did not stay in the attacking zone but moved down to midfield to control the game. It was actually a freeroll.
Lee Kang-in stably kept the ball despite the Bahrain defense’s intensive checks and found space with his wide field of view. With Lee Kang-in’s long pass, Korea attacked Bahrain’s side and created a scoring opportunity.
However, Bahrain had difficulty finishing as they erected a defensive wall in front of the goal. Bahrain, which was likely to스포츠토토 advance to the round of 16 just by drawing with Korea, countered Korea’s attack with a hand-to-hand defense.
Coach Hwang Seon-hong replaced Lee Kang-in with Ko Young-jun in the 36th minute of the first half. Go Young-jun is a special helper who contributed 1 assist in the first game and 2 assists in the second game.
Korea, which finished the first half tied 0-0, only opened the Bahrain net in the 15th minute of the second half. Set pieces were the key. A cross from the right side passed over the Bahrain defense and headed toward Jeong Ho-yeon, who was positioned on the other side. Ho-yeon Jeong found Lee Han-beom in front of the goal and lightly launched the ball, and Lee Han-beom hit it on the head, leading to the first goal.
Ho-Yeon Jeong, Woo-Young Jung, and Young-Wook Cho were brought in, and Min-Gyu Song, Seung-Ho Baek, and Jae-Yong Park were brought in to help allocate the physical strength of the players. Jaeyong Park, Seungho Baek, and Mingyu Song took the field. Song Min-gyu is participating in this competition for the first time.
Korea, which was maintaining its lead on thin ice, increased the gap by two goals with Baek Seung-ho’s additional goal in the 28th minute of the second half. Baek Seung-ho received a pass from Song Min-gyu and struck the net with a strong right-footed shot. Second goal of this tournament.
Then, in the 38th minute of the second half, Ko Young-jun scored his third goal, breaking Bahrain’s will to chase.
Korea maintained its three-goal lead until the end and secured three consecutive wins and three consecutive games without conceding a goal.
The Korean national soccer team has won the Asian Games five times (1970, 1978, 1986, 2014, 2018), the most among participating countries. Following Busan in 2014, they won two competitions in a row, including Jakarta Palembang in 2018. If they win this competition, they will achieve the first three consecutive wins in the history of the competition.