Riyadh: South Korea head coach Lee Min-sung is willing to take the blame for his team's lackluster performance so far at the top Asian men's under-23 football tournament in Saudi Arabia, where his side lucked their way into the knockout stage. Lee's South Korea lost to Uzbekistan 2-0 to close out Group C action at the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-23 Asian Cup at Prince Faisal bin Fahd Sports City Stadium in Riyadh on Tuesday.
According to Yonhap News Agency, South Korea conceded twice in the second half. They owned nearly 67 percent of ball possession, but it was mostly an empty calorie, as the young Taegeuk Warriors got outshot 4-1. Uzbekistan had eight shot attempts to South Korea's six. "We were thoroughly defeated by Uzbekistan today," Lee said at his postmatch press conference. "We didn't execute the plays that we wanted to. It was disappointing, and we're going to have to regroup."
Despite this deflating loss, South Korea will have a chance for a bounceback. They finished as the runner-up in Group C with four points on a win, a draw, and a loss to book a ticket to the quarterfinals. The top two teams from each of the four groups advance, thanks to an unexpected result in the other Group C match Tuesday. Lebanon, already eliminated from contention after losing their first two matches, upset Iran 1-0 to allow South Korea to advance, when an Iran victory would have knocked South Korea out of the tournament.
Lee admitted, "I think I made some tactical mistakes. Also, there might have been some confusion among the players as we made lineup changes. The most important thing is to clear up those issues and prepare for our next match the best we can." South Korea did not score in two of their three matches in the group stage. They opened with a goalless draw against Iran and had to rally twice against Lebanon for a 4-2 victory. Then came Tuesday's clunker.
Losing midfielder Kang Sang-yoon to a knee injury during the Iran match was a devastating early blow for South Korea. At just 21, Kang helped Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors to a domestic double last year, with the K League 1 title and the Korea Cup trophy. He also earned a place on the K League 1's Best XI at the end of the season. The International Centre for Sports Studies (CIES) recently rated Kang as the most expensive player in the South Korean league, estimating his transfer value at 3.5 million euros ($4.08 million).
As the Group C runner-up, South Korea will face the Group D winner in the quarterfinals set for 6:30 p.m. Saturday at King Abdullah Sports City Hall Stadium in Jeddah, or 12:30 a.m. Sunday (South Korean time). Group D teams will play their final matches Wednesday, with China on top with four points, followed by Australia with three points. China will likely win the group as they close out their group stage action against Thailand, currently in last place with one point.