South American powerhouse Ecuador is wary of South Korea’s World Cup Round of 16 opponent Kim Eun Joong-ho.
Miguel Bravo, head coach of the Ecuador U-20 national team, told local media on Tuesday ahead of the FIFA U-20 World Cup Round of 16 match against South Korea at the Estadio Unico Madre de Ciudades in Santiago del Estero, Argentina, on June 2 (KST), “Korea is comfortable without the ball. They don’t need to possess the ball a lot, and they come out of the back quickly. They showed against France that they are very good in transition. We have to decide how we want to possess the ball and what we need to do to avoid being in the wrong position when we lose it,” he said, warning of Korea’s ‘off-the-ball’ movement and quick transitions.
“We’ve analyzed all these things,” Bravo continued, “and I think it’s going to be a tight game on the flanks.”
After a 9-0 win over Fiji in their third group game, Bravo said, “We have to win by ‘half a goal’ or whatever. You have to play a good game to win,메이저사이트 but sometimes you win with a good game,” he said, emphasizing that the focus will be on “winning games” rather than high scores. Ecuador finished second in Group B with two wins, one loss, and six points to advance to the Round of 16, where they will face the second-place team from Group F, South Korea. South Korea defeated France in their first group game before drawing with Honduras and Gambia.
Ecuador last met South Korea in the semifinals of the 2019 U-20 World Cup, losing 0-1. “Korea is a strong rival, tactically very good,” said goalkeeper Hilmar Nappa, “and (four years ago) we were eliminated because of mistakes. But what happened then is what happened. We came here to do better. There is no reason to hold a grudge against Korea.”
According to ESPN, defenders Mikey de la Cruz and Cristian Garcia, who played in all three group games, are recovering from injuries. They will be evaluated by Aug. 31 to determine their availability. The winner of South Korea-Ecuador will face the winner of Argentina-Nigeria on Friday in the quarterfinals.