The joy of the victory over France is already in the past. Kim Eun-joong is only focused on winning the second leg.
Kim Eun-Joong and the South Korea Under-20 football team will take on Honduras at the Mendoza Stadium in Mendoza, Argentina, at 6 a.m. ET on Saturday in their second Group F match of the FIFA U-20 World Cup 2023.
South Korea defeated France, the 2013 champions, 2-1 on Aug. 23. Lee Seung-won scored the winning goal in the 22nd minute on a counterattack 스포츠토토 and Lee Young-joon scored a header in the 19th minute from a corner kick. Although they conceded a late penalty to Alan Birginius in the 25th minute, they held on for the win.
South Korea’s next opponent, Honduras, lost 1-2 to the Gambia in the first round.
Honduras may seem like an easy opponent, but South Korea can’t let their guard down. At the 2016 Rio Olympics, South Korea was paired with Germany, Mexico, and Fiji and reached the quarterfinals after topping their group, but were eliminated after a 0-1 loss to Honduras. At the time, Honduras rattled Korea with sharp counterattacks based on a stingy defensive tactic.
The best-case scenario is that South Korea eliminates Honduras and Gambia doesn’t win against France. In that case, South Korea would earn six points and advance to the round of 16 early, regardless of the outcome of their final match against the Gambia.
Ahead of the second game, Kim Eun-joong said, “Honduras has good basic physicality. They also have individual ability. We are preparing by finding strategies and preparations.”
“The first match against France was difficult in many ways, including physical, but the victory reduced the players’ fatigue. They seem to be recovering quickly. Some of the players were unable to play, but they are always prepared because they don’t know when they will play.”
“We’re doing a lot of things to prepare, but I don’t think there will be any major changes,” he said about the lineup against Honduras.
“We were able to get the three points in the first game because we did what we prepared for,” he said, “but the first game is in the past. We have to play the second game anew. We will try to get the result we want as much as possible.”