A short preview because I’ve got a nasty man-cold
Korean soccer pundits are expecting Shin Taeyong to whip out a 3-4-3 formation ahead of Korea’s second game at the U-20 World Cup against Argentina.
A victory would guarantee the Koreans’ progress to the Round of 16 and Shin has made it castine clear that the Koreans are going for nothing less than a win. To accomplish this, Korea will highly probably line-up in a 3-4-3 formation like against South American champions Uruguay in a pre-tournament friendly in which the Koreans won 2-0 and looked their best defensively.
Shin, however, has said that “we were able to intelligently attack in a 3-4-3 against one of the best South American sides” which certainly has left pundits believing that Shin will resort once again to this shape against the Argentines.
Despite Shin’s positive attitude and optimism, however, he has made it clear that marked improvements are needed in this encounter, identifying five keys to the game in a pre-match press conference.
- Passing: “We didn’t show our best passing ability against Guinea. We couldn’t string together more than 3-4 passes at a time and there were many errant passes. We have to improve and play a smart passing game like we have before.”
- Set pieces: “We’ve been practicing a lot on the training pitch to improve our set pieces and come up with certain strategies. We weren’t confident enough in the set pieces against Guinea.”
- The crowd: “The crowd gave us a lot of confidence in the first game, but we really needed them to get a good result. In the second game, I want us to take the initiative and play without butterflies in our stomachs in front of the home crowd.”
- Capitalizing on Argentinian impatience: “We know that if Argentina doesn’t win this game it will be difficult for them to advance to the Round of 16. It is then very possible that they will be impatient in the second half. We need to use this to our advantage.”
- Harnessing the Uruguay friendly: “We were very poised against Uruguay. Our confidence of playing against South American teams was boosted. We know now that we can beat Argentina and we are wholly focused on getting nothing less than a win.”
Argentina lost 3-0 to England in the first round.
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