Kim Eun-joong, the under-20 (U-20) World Cup team aiming for ‘Again 2019’, will play the first match of the tournament against France, a strong European powerhouse.
The Korean U-20 soccer team, led by coach Kim Eun-joong, will play the first match of Group F in the group stage of the tournament against France at Mendoza Stadium in Mendoza, Argentina at 3:00 am (Korean time) on the 23rd.
As the saying goes, “Well begun is half done,” the importance of the first game in the World Cup cannot be overemphasized.
Korea lost to Portugal in the first match of the group stage four years ago, but advanced to the final and finished runner-up.
Kim Eun-joong, who is trying to recreate the impression of four years ago, was tied in Group F with France, Honduras and Gambia in this tournament. France is also considered the strongest opponent in Group F.
Korea is behind France and the U-20 national team with 1 win, 3 draws and 4 losses. Their most recent encounter was in a friendly in Spain in March 2019, when they lost 1-3.
In the U-20 World Cup stage, they have never beaten France. They faced each other twice in the group stage (2-4 loss in 1997 and 1-3 loss in 2011), but lost both.
Kim Eun-joong will challenge for his first victory against France in this tournament.
Korea, whose priority is to secure minimum points, is determined to play a scoreless game with Kim Ji-soo (Seongnam), the support of the defensive line.
Central defender Kim Ji-soo, who is active in Seongnam FC in the K-League 2 professional football league, has excellent skills to the extent that he is currently receiving attention from Brentford in the English Premier League (EPL).
Equipped with a sturdy physique of 192cm and 84km in length, he is evaluated as a lumber to succeed Kim Min-jae (Naples) in the future as he combines the ability to control the ball in the air as well as outstanding physical fighting and soccer intelligence.
FIFA also picked Kim Ji-soo as Korea’s key player ahead of the Group F match between Korea and France. As France, which has an objective superiority in power, is expected to launch an offensive, the key is how effectively the defensive line led by Kim Ji-soo can block the French attackers.
If Kim Ji-soo is on the defensive line, we expect Kang Seong-jin (FC Seoul) to play an active role in the offense.토토사이트
Kang Seong-jin, who shows strength in dribbling breakthrough and left-footed shooting, played a big role in the Asian qualifiers, leading Korea to advance to the finals.
When he was coach Paulo Bento, he was selected for the adult national team and showed his presence by scoring multiple goals in the second leg of the East Asian Football Federation (EAFF) E-1 Championship (East Asian Cup) with Hong Kong last year.