[골닷컴] Reporter Kang Dong-hoon = Bae Jun-ho (Stoke City) ended up not joining Hwang Seon-hong. This is because Stoke have recently been involved in a bloody battle to stay in the English Football League (EFL) Championship (Second Division) and finally refused to call up Bae Jun-ho, who plays an active role as starting player. Following Kim Ji-soo (Brentford) and Yang Hyun-jun (Celtic), even Bae Jun-ho failed to join, leaving Hwang Seon-hong in a ‘big crisis situation’.
The Korea Football Association (KFA) said on the 14th, “Bae Jun-ho, who was included in the final 23 players for the Olympic team, was selected as Choi Kang-min (Ulsan HD) in his place as his team Stoke City finally told him they would not be able to select a player due to team circumstances. “Choi Kang-min is expected to enter Doha today,” he said.
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The Olympic team, led by coach Hwang Seon-hong, will take part in the Asian finals of the 2024 Paris Olympics and the 2024 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Under-23 Asian Cup to be held in Doha, Qatar, starting on the 16th. Hwang Seon-hong, who belongs to Group B, will face the United Arab Emirates (UAE, 17th), China (19th), and Japan (22nd) respectively. Hwang Seon-Hong must be in the top three countries to advance directly to the finals. If they are 4th, they will have to play a re-continental (PO) game against Guinea.
Before this, Hwang Seon-hong started training with mainly domestic players in Icheon on the 1st, and from the 6th, he started to adapt to the local area and improve his condition in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Afterwards, Hwang Seon-hong played a closed-door friendly with Saudi Arabia (lost 0-1) and entered Doha on the 10th to set up a base camp.
However, Hwang Seon-hongho faced a series of bad news even before the entire group assembled. This is because Kim Ji-soo and Yang Hyun-jun were unable to join because they refused to be selected for their team. Accordingly, Coach Hwang chose Kim Dong-jin (Pohang Steelers) to replace Kim Ji-soo, and Hong Si-hoo (Incheon United) to replace Yang Hyun-jun. Baek Sang-hoon (FC Seoul) joined late on his own as he has been observing the aftermath of a knee injury.
The bad news didn’t end here. Jeong Sang-bin (Minnesota United) was approved to be drafted into his team, but as his joining was only confirmed on the 15th, problems arose with organizational skills due to the lack of time to get together with the existing players. Meanwhile, even Bae Jun-ho, who was expected to be rejected with a high probability of being selected, failed to join, leaving Hwang Seon-hong in a state of ‘great crisis’.
Initially, Hwang Seon-Hong considered whether or not foreign players would join as the biggest variable. As it is not a competition run by the Federation of International Football Associations (FIFA), it is not compulsory to be selected, so if the team refuses, the player cannot be selected. That is why Coach Hwang left for Europe after completing a training camp in Turkey early this year and discussed the recruitment of foreign players with their respective teams. However, of the foreign players that Hwang Seon-hong originally intended to call up, only Kim Min-woo (Düsseldorf) and Jeong Sang-bin joined.
Coach Hwang said, “There were difficulties due to foreign players and injury issues, but such things are bound to happen,” and added, “We will overcome difficulties well. “I will do my best to qualify for the Olympic finals for the 10th time in a row and return,” he said.
◆ Paris 2024 Asia Olympics final qualification list (23 people)
▲ Goalkeeper (GK) = Kim Jeong-hoon (Jeonbuk Hyundai), Baek Jong-beom (FC Seoul), Shin Song-hoon (Chungnam Asan)
▲ Defender (DF) = Lee Tae-seok (FC Seoul), Jo Hyun-taek (Gimcheon Sangmu), Seo Seong-gwan (Bucheon FC), Byun Jun-su (Gwangju FC), Lee Jae-won (Cheonan City) , Hwang Jae-won (Daegu FC), Jang Si-young (Ulsan HD)
▲ Midfielder (MF) = Lee Kang-hee (Gyeongnam FC), Kang Sang-yoon (Suwon FC), Kang Seong-jin, Baek Sang-hoon (FC Seoul), Um Ji-seong (Gwangju FC), Hong Si-hoo (Incheon United), Kim Min-woo (Dusseldorf), Kim Dong-jin, Hong Sang Yoon (Pohang Steelers), Jeong Sang-bin (Minnesota United), Kang-min Choi (Ulsan HD)
▲ Forward (FW) = Jaejun Ahn (Buchon FC), Youngjun Lee (Gimcheon Sangmu)
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