South Korea cruised to a spot at the Qatar U-23 Asian Cup 2024 as they booked their ticket to the Paris Olympics. The U-23s won their second Group B match against China 2-0 at the Abdullah Bin Khalifa Stadium in Qatar on Monday. The two consecutive wins against the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the first leg boosted their chances of advancing to the quarterfinals. Depending on the outcome of the match between Japan and the UAE, they could qualify early regardless of the outcome of the third leg against Japan on Feb. 22. A top-three finish in the tournament will qualify for this summer’s Paris Olympics, while a fourth-place finish will force a playoff against Guinea in Africa.
Lee Young-joon (21, Gimcheon Commerce) was the star of the show. He was the star of the show with two goals, one in the first half and one in the second. After coming off the bench in the 1-0 win over UAE to score the dramatic winner in second-half stoppage time, 토토사이트 he was given a chance to start today and lived up to coach Hwang Sun-hong’s expectations.
South Korea had a few close calls in the first half as China took the lead early on.
In the 15th minute, Kim lost the ball in the final third and found himself one-on-one with the goalkeeper. Goalkeeper Kim Jung-hoon (Jeonbuk) made the save to avoid a goal. Nine minutes later, the Chinese counterattacked and had a chance inside the penalty box, but Kim made another save. Lee Young-joon broke the deadlock. In the 34th minute, Kang Sang-yoon (Suwon FC) slipped a pass through the defense from just outside the right side of the penalty box, and Lee slipped in and collected the ball before powering it into the back of the net with his right foot.
Lee added his second goal in the 24th minute. Byun Jun-soo (Gwangju) was denied by a backpass from Byun, but Kim Jeong-hoon made another save, and then, on the counterattack, Lee Young-joon latched onto a pass from the left by Lee Tae-seok (Seoul) and beat one defender to score his second goal with a left-footed shot. China mounted a furious counterattack afterward, but the match ended without a goal.
Despite the win, two of the starting central defenders were unavailable for the match against Japan. Signor Kwan (Bucheon) was forced off with a hamstring injury midway through the second half and will be unavailable for the rest of the tournament, 파워볼실시간 while Byun Jun-soo will miss the next match due to accumulating cautions. Byun Jun-soo, who received one caution in the UAE match, was cautioned for delaying time on a free kick in stoppage time later that day.