S. Korea lose to Japan in semifinals of Asian U-23 football tournament

Kang Seong-jin of South Korea, left, makes an attempt a shot previous Rei Umeki of Japan through the groups’ semifinal match on the Asian Soccer Confederation U-23 Asian Cup at King Abdullah Sports activities Metropolis Corridor Stadium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday, on this photograph supplied by the Korea Soccer Affiliation. Yonhap

South Korea’s journey on the high Asian males’s under-23 soccer event got here to an finish in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday.

Coached by Lee Min-sung, South Korea fell to Japan 1-0 within the semifinals of the Asian Soccer Confederation (AFC) U-23 Asian Cup at King Abdullah Sports activities Metropolis Corridor Stadium in Jeddah.

Kaito Koizumi scored the match’s lone purpose within the thirty sixth minute. Shuto Nagano received off an preliminary header off a Ryunosuke Sato nook that goalkeeper Hong Seong-min saved, however the juicy rebound went proper to unmarked Koizumi, who poked the ball residence for a 1-0 Japan lead.

South Korea had only one shot try within the first half to Japan’s 10.

South Korea ratcheted up their attacking stress after the restart however could not crack the Japanese protection.

Jang Seok-hwan struck the crossbar with a left-footed shot from exterior the field within the 58th minute, the closest that South Korea got here to scoring on this match. 4 minutes later, Kang Seong-jin unleashed a scissors kick to power a tricky save by Rui Araki.

Kim Tae-won then hit the proper aspect of the online throughout stoppage time after receiving an extended ball from Jang.

South Korea held a 7-2 benefit in shot makes an attempt within the second half.

Coach Lee stated he wished his crew would have been extra assertive within the opening 45 minutes.

“I feel our gamers had been too timid. Then we fought again within the second half and it is a disgrace we did not rating,” Lee stated at his postmatch press convention. “I hope our gamers will use this as a chance to develop.”

Particularly, Lee stated South Korea did not press as arduous as they need to have up entrance.

“We addressed that subject within the second half and responded effectively, however finally, it’s important to rating to win in soccer,” the coach stated. “We’ve got to enhance in that space.”

With a watch towards the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, additionally a U-23 competitors, Japan took a crew of 20-and-under gamers to Saudi Arabia, together with three 18-year-olds. South Korea, then again, had an older group with a number of 22-year-olds and simply two youngsters.

South Korea performed three group stage matches and two knockout matches at this event and failed to attain in three of them.

South Korea have been relegated to the third-place contest, the place they’ll meet the loser of the opposite semifinal match between Vietnam, coached by South Korean tactician Kim Sang-sik, and China scheduled for later Tuesday.

The third-place match will kick off at 6 p.m. Friday (native time) at King Abdullah Sports activities Metropolis Corridor Stadium, or midnight Friday in South Korea.

“We’re not going to go all-in on assault simply to attain targets, and we’re not going to sit down again and play protection the entire time to maintain the opposite crew from scoring,” Lee stated of his method to the following match. “We’ll concentrate on reaching the proper steadiness.”

South Korea had been attempting to win their first AFC U-23 title since 2020. This was additionally their first journey to the final 4 since that 12 months.