The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup journey of the national soccer team led by coach Jurgen Klinsmann (59) begins. Korea’s goal is to win.
The AFC will hold the 2023 Asian Cup draw ceremony at the Katara Opera House in Doha, Qatar, on the 11th at 8:00 pm (Korean time). Legends from each country will participate in the lottery, including Park Ji-seong, director of Jeonbuk Hyundai, Serber Zefarov (Uzbekistan) and Tim Cahill (Australia).
The Asian Cup, which will be held in Qatar in January next year, will have 24 teams divided into 6 groups of 4 countries to play in the group stage. One team from pots 1 to 4 divided according to the FIFA rankings will be drawn into the same group. The 12 teams in first and second places in each group and the top four teams in third place will win tickets to the round of 16.안전놀이터
Korea, ranked 27th in the FIFA rankings, was ranked third among the participating countries in the Asian Cup, following Japan (20th) and Iran (24th), and belonged to Pot 1. It is possible to avoid Asian powerhouses such as Japan, Iran, and Australia in the group stage. In Port 2, Iraq, UAE, Oman, etc. are considered difficult opponents, and it is predicted that they will be in a good group.
Coach Klinsman is having a meeting with the players prior to the national team training at the Paju Training Center (NFC) in Gyeonggi-do on the morning of the 22nd. After training this morning, the national team will move to Ulsan, where the evaluation match will be held. Paju = Reporter Minkyu Kim mgkim1@edaily.co.kr /2023.03.22/
Korea, which claims to be the ‘Asian Tiger’, aims to win the championship for the first time in 64 years. After standing at the top of Asia in the first tournament in 1956 and the second tournament in 1960, Korea raised a bitter cup every time. Only runner-up took 4 times, so it is first place in this category.
The will to regain the title of the strongest in Asia is determined. Coach Klinsman, who took over the leadership of the national team in March, said from the first meeting with reporters, “The goal is to win the Asian Cup.” Athletes such as Son Heung-min (Tottenham) and Oh Hyun-kyu (Celtic) also nodded their heads at the words of the head coach.
This competition is the first test bed to determine Klinsmann’s competitiveness and direction. The timing of the tournament is 10 months since coach Klinsman took office. Attention is focusing on how much the football color that Klins Manho pursues will be expressed and how much performance will be achieved at the Asian level. It is expected that attention will also be drawn to whether Klinsman’s goal is to win.
Coach Klinsman, who finished his European schedule last month including meeting with the national team players, left for Doha, Qatar on the 7th. Starting the day after the group lottery event, he plans to explore decisive battlegrounds such as stadiums and training grounds.