Arguably even more important than the ongoing international friendlies is the Asian Games, with military exemption on the line. Worries were abundant going into the tournament – Lee Min Sung has been one of our worst youth managers to date, the squad selection was also a bit suspect – but while we’re not in the clear just yet, at least from the group stage we can conclude that once again the sheer gap in individual quality might carry us all the way in spite of our manager. Deja vu to Hwang Sun Hong’s 2022 run, anyone?
This is where we stand so far:
We had the fortune of being drawn into Group D – the three team group rather than the usual four. With Iraq’s sudden withdrawal there was always going to be a three-team group, and we got it. The Asian Games schedule is insane, forcing you to play 6 games in just 18 days if you go all the way. That’s a game every 3 days. But by getting this group, we shaved it down to 5 games in just 18 days – still insane, but much more doable.
Our viewers may immediately recognize how much easier our side of the bracket is than the bottom side – not that it matters since we have to win this whole thing, but still worth discussing. Turns out, we had another small stroke of luck in Group B, composed of Iran, UAE, North Korea, and China. On paper you’d think China would crash out for sure, Iran would make it for sure, while NK and UAE would battle it out for second but just earlier today, China held the UAE to a draw while Iran lost 4-1 to North Korea, putting China first (draw against Iran, beat NK) and North Korea second.
Uzbekistan is our usual bogey team in youth football, so it’s great that we avoided them. It’ll likely be either them or Japan making it out to the finals against us, but hopefully North Korea can put in a good fight (unfortunately, they will likely LITERALLY fight) against Japan as well.
Korea vs Qatar: Too easy
The lineup for the first group stage match was as follows:
As I suspected Lee Gi Hyeok was given defensive midfield duties. The defensive line of Bae Hyeon Seo, Kim Ji Soo, Shin Min Ha, and Choi Seok Hyeon was expected based on form, while of course Yang and Eom the wildcards took charge of the wings. Lee Young Jun is not in the listing at all because Grasshopper Zurich wanted him to join up with the squad late (during the official FIFA sanctioned international break), so Kim Myung Jun was the only FW on the squad.
Lee Seung Won filled in for CM alongside attacking midfielder Bae Jun Ho – our two best players alongside Lee Young Jun during our semifinal run in the 2023 U20 World Cup in Argentina. The usual first choice CM of the team, Kang Sang Yoon, was out injured (and still is) because Lee Min Sung is a MORON and ignored warnings from Jeonbuk Hyundai to not make training too intense… and surprise surprise, Kang Sang Yoon got injured in high intensity training. I do not understand why all our coaches, from Hwang Sun Hong to Hong Myung Bo to LMS, are SO old school…
Anyway… Qatar barely even tried to defend. A lot of the videos were taken down so can’t upload here, but the ease with which our CBs under zero pressure just put in long balls behind the opposition defense to speedy wingers who could just toy with poor quality defenders was really nice to see. It was actually so refreshing compared to the frustrating games we see from HMB’s senior KNT and the usual LMS U23 games. We struggle a bit more with teams that turtle and low-block, but Qatar did … the opposite. They played a high line against… Eom Ji Sung and Yang Hyun Jun. We’ll take it. A few scenes of bad defending ourselves (leading to the 4-1) but we’ll take it.
Korea vs Saudi Arabia: Individual Quality Carries Again
Saudi Arabia did their homework and actually did the things to frustrate us. They pressed our center-backs. They didn’t allow space for EJS and Yang Min Hyeok to run in behind (side note – Yang Min Hyeok’s form is WAY down… how sad his career is turning out so far, hoping for a turnaround very soon).
Two areas of rotation: Lee Hyeon Ju for Bae Jun Ho, and Yang Min Hyeok for Yang Hyun Jun. I didn’t get to watch this one live, but the common theme I’m hearing is that we were really frustrated for the first half or more, but EVERYTHING changed when Bae Jun Ho came on. Then Lee Young Jun came on and things really started to click.
Lee Min Sung sucks against low-block type teams. He only has ONE game plan – long balls into space to speedy wingers. That’s… just about the only thing he can do and when that doesn’t work he loses to teams like Vietnam, China, Saudi Arabia twice in a row, and Kyrgyzstan (we have documented the sheer failures of results under LMS so far here). But what LMS didn’t have at his disposal in the past when he couldn’t rely on overseas talent … was overseas talent.
Bae Jun Ho is the guy you want to unlock compact defenses. He’s probably the only one in this squad, and one of the few in our national teams setup entirely (the others being Kangin and Minsu) who can operate in tight spaces and draw people towards him to open up space for others. Then there’s Lee Young Jun. He already has military exemption so we were all scratching our heads why he was picked, but this game showed why we probably need him to win gold. Lee Young Jun is quite the physical specimen who is in extremely good form in Switzerland. Against much weaker and shorter Asian U21-U23 defenders, he is just a cheat code. Long ball in his direction and he will drop the ball down for you. He did this all the time during the 2023 U20 Asian Cup for Bae Jun Ho, and the chemistry showed. Hence, despite a bad start, we overcame things with good subs and got the 2-0 win.
Quarterfinal vs Vietnam Preview
Vietnam is a team we have a lot of kinship with, not just from the Korean manager angle but from 1) Korea’s tensions with Thailand (with their NT constantly whining about refs) and 2) the game happening the day before Chuseok (the Vietnamese equivalent being Tet). Let’s briefly recap: Park Hang Seo did great work with Vietnamese football as manager of both the senior and youth national teams. From 2017 to 2023 his era is widely considered the golden age of Vietnamese football, with milestones including winning the 2018 AFF Championship (their first in a decade), reaching the quarterfinals of the 2019 AFC Asian Cup, and advancing to the final round of the 2022 FIFA World Cup Asian Qualifiers for the first time in Vietnam’s history. Then the VFF decided that they want to evolve into a more possession based and technical setup, so the VFF and Park Hang Seo mutually agreed to not renew, and they went with Philippe Troussier who is largely credited as the guy who kickstarted the ideas that have shaped modern Japanese football during his tenure with the JNT from 1998-2002. But that was an absolute disaster – his style didn’t fit the players, the results were awful, and the VFF decided to go back to the “Korean formula” (their words not mine) with the appointment of Kim Sang Sik in 2024. And in some respects, Kim Sang Sik is achieving even better results than Park Hang Seo.
Kim Sang Sik knows our weaknesses inside out and spearheaded Korea’s loss on penalties to Vietnam in the 2026 U23 Asian Cup quarterfinals. He’s a better manager than Lee Min Sung (this is well known) and outsmarted him then. But this time, will sheer individual quality prevail now that we’ve brought our A team in search of military exemption? Also assisting us somewhat will be the fact that Kim Sang Sik is busy with the Vietnamese senior national team against the Philippines, Thailand, and Palestine. Assistant coach Đinh Hồng Vinh is in charge right now at the Asian Games. Additionally, Vietnam’s star player Nguyễn Đình Bắc is playing for senior NT despite being 22 years old and eligible for the Asian Games – he is the guy who registered 1 goal 1 assist against us back then.
Ultimately, we’re here to win the whole thing, and that’s the only acceptable outcome. We will update the Tavern once before the final, then recap the final after which we should have secured military exemption.
Love the breakdown. Is there a website or channel to watch these games?