South Korean soccer, which is trying to advance to the Olympic finals for 10 consecutive times, has entered Doha, Qatar, where tickets for the Paris Olympics are at stake.
The Olympic soccer team led by Hwang Sun-hong left Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, where it will train, and arrived in Doha, Qatar on Wednesday. The team is set to participate in the Asian qualifying round for the Paris Olympics and the U-23 Asian Cup to be held in Doha, Qatar on Saturday.
Korea can advance to the finals of the Olympics only if it ranks first to third in the upcoming event involving 16 countries. If the team loses to the fourth place, it must win in the intercontinental playoff against Guinea, the fourth-ranked team in the African qualifying round, to take the last train to the finals. All the continents except Asia have already decided who will make the finals.
Korea was tied in Group B along with China, Japan and the UAE at the first stage of this year's event. The team will play its first group match against the UAE on Wednesday, followed by China and Japan on Wednesday. 안전놀이터
If Korea is to achieve its goal, it needs to form a complete team as soon as possible. Korea, which started its training primarily in Korea, is expected to be joined by overseas players right before the competition. Analysts say that while Yang Hyun-joon (Celtic) and Kim Ji-soo (Brentford) failed to recruit players due to opposition from their teams, the key is whether the rest of the players will merge into the slogan of "one team, one goal."