South Korea U-20 captain Kim Eun-Joong-ho (Gangwon) is aiming for a trophy at the 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup.
The South Korean U-20 team, led 메이저사이트 by Kim Eun-joong, will face Israel in the third-place match of the tournament at 2:30 a.m. ET on June 12 at La Plata Stadium in Argentina.
Although the team failed to reach the final for the second consecutive time, a win would give them a third-place finish for the first time in the tournament.
South Korea has reached the quarterfinals three times at the U-20 World Cup, finishing fourth in Mexico in 1983 and second in Poland in 2019.
South Korea’s men’s soccer team has never won a third-place match at a FIFA-organized tournament, so the Israelis should have plenty of motivation.
Against Israel, all eyes will be on Lee Seung-won’s ‘golden right foot’.
Captain Kim Eun-Joong-ho has two goals and four assists in the tournament, giving him a whopping six attacking points.
That’s the same number of attacking points as Lee set at the 2019 tournament in Poland. FIFA awarded Lee the Golden Ball, the tournament’s most valuable player (MVP) award, for his impressive performance at the tournament, despite South Korea finishing as runners-up.
Lee was the first South Korean player to win the Golden Ball at a FIFA-organized tournament.
While it’s highly unlikely that South Korea will win the Golden Ball after a disappointing 3-4 finish in the finals, there’s a good chance that Lee will surpass Lee Kang-in’s record.
From the first game of the group stage against France (a 2-1 win) onward, Lee led the South Korean offense with one goal and one assist.
After adding assists against Honduras in the second round, Ecuador in the round of 16, and Nigeria in the quarterfinals, Lee converted a penalty kick from Bae Joon-ho (Daejeon) in the 23rd minute of the fourth-place game against Italy with his team trailing 0-1.
With the exception of the third-place game against Gambia, Lee totaled six offensive points in the six matches leading up to the quarterfinals.
If he adds a goal or an assist against Israel, he will surpass the record set by Lee Kang-in four years ago.
After the loss to Italy, Lee broke down in tears on the pitch, telling FIFA+ after the game, “There are three or four more matches left,” and “I told the boys not to hang their heads, and to play well in the remaining matches.”
Meanwhile, Israel, one of the surprise teams of the tournament alongside South Korea, reached the quarterfinals in their first ever appearance.
Despite a 0-1 loss to Uruguay in the semifinals, they were strong against Asian opponents, beating Japan in the group stage and Uzbekistan in the tournament.