The South Korean men’s Olympic team, led by head coach Hwang Sun-hong, showed strong confidence in advancing to the Olympic finals for the 10th consecutive time.
Onside, a technical report published every month by the Korea Football Association, conducted a survey of Olympic team players in the April issue, and all respondents said they aimed to win the Asian Cup.
The survey was conducted on members of the Western Asian Football Confederation (WAFF) Championship held in Saudi Arabia in March and members of the U-23 Asian Cup and the final qualifying round for the Paris Olympics. A total of 20 respondents were surveyed.
When asked about their goal for the U-23 Asian Cup, all the respondents said they would win. Korea needs to secure at least the third place to win the berth for the finals. The Olympic team was in Group B along with Japan, the United Arab Emirates and China. The journey will not be easy from the start of the group stage. However, the fact that Korea expects to win the title without exception shows players’ special will and confidence.
When asked about the opponent they want to win the most, they received unanimous responses. All the respondents picked “Japan” as their match to win the match. Japan is an opponent of revenge. Korea lost 0-3 to Japan in the quarterfinals at the U-23 Asian Cup in 2022. The answer was a commitment to regain the pride that had been crumpled up after losing the last tournament to Japan and rise to the top of Asia again.
“We don’t need other words,” said goalkeeper Kim Jung-hoon, who played very well in the finals of the WAFF Championship. “I want to beat Japan more than any other team,” said Lee Young-joon of Kim Cheon-bu, who scored a goal in the finals of the same championship. Kim Min-woo of Dusseldorf also expressed his commitment, saying, “I think Japan is ahead of our group. This is the most important game for us.”
It has been confirmed that Park Ji-sung is the most favorite Korean player (including retired players) among Olympic team players. Among the 19 respondents, seven (36.8 percent) chose Park. For these reasons, Park said, “A player who can lead the game for 90 minutes, lack spirit, perseverance, determination, and activeness. He is so cool to see him consistently and dedicated to his team.”
Son Heung-min, Kim Min-jae, and Hwang Seon-hong tied for second place with two players each. As for the favorite overseas league, 17 out of 19 players chose the English Premier League, with two choosing the German Bundesliga.
An overwhelming majority of the respondents were also consuming soccer contents through digital media. Seventy percent of the respondents, or 14 people, said they enjoy watching soccer through online video service (OTT). This was followed by 25 percent (5 people) who said they would look up YouTube sculptures such as edited or interpreted versions of game highlights. 퀸알바
When asked about the content of soccer that they are most interested in, the answer “Creative videos of teams such as KFA Inside Cam and Club Cam” topped the list with 11 people. Next, nine players each chose “Soccer Documentary” and “Youtube Video Created by a Footballer.”
In addition, the entire survey of the Olympic team players’ perceptions of soccer trends, such as self-management methods using leisure, can be found in the April issue of “Onside” on the KFA website.