‘Jung Woo-young Multi-Goal’ Men’s Soccer Defeats Uzbekistan… Korea-Japan Final on Sunday
Korea is one step away from a third straight Asian Games title.
South Korea’s men’s soccer team won its Asian Games men’s soccer semifinal
against Uzbekistan 2-1 on Thursday behind multiple goals from Jung Woo-young (24)
at the Huanglong Sports Center in Hangzhou, China.
It will play Japan, which beat Hong Kong 4-0 the same day,
in the final on Sunday at the Huanglong Sports Center.
Japan was the final opponent at the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang tournament. 카지노사이트
South Korea won 2-1 in extra time to claim the gold medal.
Semifinal opponent Uzbekistan was a tough nut to crack.
Uzbekistan has had a better international record at the Asian Games with its U-23 players than its senior national team,
winning the 2018 Asian Cup, finishing fourth in 2020 and runner-up in 2022.
South Korea met Uzbekistan in the quarterfinals of the Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games five years ago, winning a hard-fought 4-3 victory in extra time.
This time around, Uzbekistan, who were in Group C,
automatically qualified for the round of 16 after fellow group members Afghanistan and Syria withdrew from the tournament.
Coming into the tournament with a lot of momentum,
Uzbekistan defeated Indonesia (1-0) in the round of 16 and Saudi Arabia (2-1)
in the quarterfinals to reach the Asian Games quarterfinals for the first time in 29 years since winning the 1994 Hiroshima Games.
South Korea’s “spear,” which had scored a whopping 23 goals in their previous five games, was sharp again.
South Korea earned a free kick on the right side of the attacking zone in the third minute of the first half,
with kicker Lee Kang-in (22) passing to Hong Hyun-seok (24) in the center of the field instead of toward the goal.
Hong then passed to Uhm Won-sang (24), who was penetrating the penalty box, and the ball found its way to Jung Woo-young, who was rushing toward the goal.
Just five minutes into the game, Jung found the back of the Uzbek net with his right foot.
Uzbekistan fought back. In the 26th minute, on a free kick in front of the penalty area, captain Jasurbek Zalolidinov (21) hit a direct left-footed shot that deflected off a Korean defender and into the net.
Uzbekistan didn’t waste the opportunity when midfielder Ibrohimhalil Yuldoshev (22) made a quick break to the free kick spot on his own.