Europe-based players likely to play Olympic qualifiers
Hwang Sun-hong, head coach of the Korean men’s under-23 football team, said Monday he has secured the services of a few Europe-based players for this spring’s Olympic qualifying tournament, though their clubs may change their minds at the last minute.
Hwang and the young Taegeuk Warriors are scheduled to compete in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-23 Asian Cup, which kicks off on April 15 in Qatar. The tournament doubles as the Asian qualifiers for the Paris Olympics this summer, with the top three teams punching tickets to France and the fourthplace team falling to a playoff match against an African team.
Because the AFC U-23 event doesn’t fall during the FIFA match calendar, clubs are under no obligation to release their Asian players for the occasion. However, Hwang said he has gotten a few clubs to agree to send their Korean youngsters to the Olympic qualifying event.
On Monday, Hwang announced his 23-man squad for the March 20-26 West Asian Football Federation (WAFF) U-23 Championship, to which Korea have been invited by the host country Saudi Arabia. This event will help Korea prepare for the AFC competition, and the squad includes Brentford FC defender Kim Ji-soo, Stoke City midfielder Bae Jun-ho and Celtic FC midfielder Yang Hyun-jun.
Hwang said the trio who got the callup for the Saudi Arabia tournament should be able to play at the Olympic qualifying event as well.
“I visited with Celtic and Stoke City after our Turkey training camp in January, and with Bae Jun-ho, Stoke City have agreed to release him for the Olympic qualifiers. The team may change their mind later for various reasons, but for now, they have promised to let him play for us,” Hwang said. “We can say the same about Yang Hyun-jun and Kim Ji-soo. Players who are included on this team have the permission from their clubs. Things may change come April, though.”
Korea could face a rocky path to the top three at the AFC competition, having been paired with Japan, the United Arab Emirates and China in Group B. If Korea make it out of the group stage, they could meet the host country Qatar or Australia in the quarterfinals. Hwang could use all the help he could get, and Bae, recently selected as Stoke City’s Player of the Month for February, and Yang, who has been playing regularly with Celtic, should provide some spark for Korea’s offense.
The situation is not as rosy for another skilled youngster, Lee Kangin of Paris Saint-Germain (PSG). Hwang said PSG have already decided not to release the 23-year-old midfielder for the Olympic qualifiers in April.
Although the July 26-Aug. 11 Olympic Games will be played in PSG’s backyard, European clubs typically travel around the world for preseason matches in July and August.
Hwang is pulling double duty as caretaker manager for the men’s senior national team this month. After firing Jurgen Klinsmann in the aftermath of Korea’s semifinal exit at the AFC Asian Cup last month, the Korea Football Association asked Hwang to hold the fort until it names a full-time bench boss.
Korea will play Thailand on March 21 and 26 in home-and-away World Cup qualifying matches. This will force Hwang to miss the WAFF U-23 event in Saudi Arabia.
“I am worried about missing that competition. I won’t deny that,” Hwang said. “There are areas that we need to improve on and certain positions that I need to see for myself. But I’ve had discussions with my coaches, and we’ve settled on our lineups and strategic concepts for our three matches there. I will watch the video of the match and training sessions and send my feedback.”