South Korea, Japan eye last eight berths

Doha, Qatar: South Korea will be aiming to secure their place in the last eight of the AFC U23 Asian Cup Qatar 2024 today when they face China in thei...

Doha, Qatar: South Korea will be aiming to secure their place in the last eight of the AFC U23 Asian Cup Qatar 2024 today when they face China in their second Group B fixture.

The 2020 champions head into the early kick-off at the Abdullah Bin Khalifa Stadium knowing that a second consecutive victory, following their opening 1-0 win against the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday at the same venue, will see likely them maintain their record as the only team to reach the knockout stage at each of the six editions of this tournament to date.

Progress to the quarter-finals will bring Hwang Sun-hong’s side one step closer to a 12th Olympic Games qualification but having seen his charges break through only in added time in their opening match, the former Korea Republic international has cautioned against taking China PR lightly.

“As far as I know, China have been training for over a month and I think they have improved a lot,” said the 55-year-old, who remains the second all-time top scorer for the men’s national team with 50 goals from his 103 caps.

“There are no easy opponents in the tournament and we will definitely analyse them and prepare for the next match. My tactical game plan differs from opponent to opponent, so I will continue to take that approach in the next game.”