The Korea Football Association appointed Lee Min-sung as the coach of the U22 national team...High marks for national team management know-how and solid philosophy
May 27, 2025
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The Korea Football Association (KFA) announced on the 27th that it has appointed head coach Lee Min-sung as the head coach of the U-22 national team to lead the 2026 Asian Games and 2028 Olympics.
Lee played in Busan, Pohang, and Seoul when he was a player and played in 200 K-League games. He played in two World Cups and played 67 A matches for the national team. In particular, he became a national star player by scoring a come-from-behind goal in an away match in Japan in the final qualifying round for the 1997 World Cup in France called the 「Tokyo Battle」.
After retiring as a player, he began his leadership career as a playing coach for Yongin City Hall in the National League in 2010 and worked as a coach for various clubs such as Guangzhou Hengda (China), Gangwon, and Ulsan. Since then, he has been appointed as the head coach of the South Korean U-23 national team in 2018 and contributed to the gold medal at the Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games and the 2020 Asian U-23 Championship. He began his coaching career as Daejeon manager in December 2020 and led the team until May 2024, leading the team to promotion to the first division of Daejeon in 2022.
The Korea Football Association's National Power Reinforcement Committee (hereinafter referred to as Jeon Kang-wi) held its first meeting on the 7th and reviewed several candidates who met the qualifications for the appointment of the coach, and then compressed the subjects based on their performance and experience as leaders.
At the second meeting, the committee selected the final candidates to conduct the interview by checking the game model and how the game was operated through video clips of the candidates selected at the first meeting.
Since then, interviews with the final candidates have been conducted, and based on the results of the interview at the third meeting, they have discussed various aspects such as football philosophy, team operation plan, expertise and leadership on U-23 age, and crisis management ability, reviewing each candidate and conducting a comprehensive evaluation.
As a result, head coach Lee Min-sung was selected as the number one candidate for recommendation, and with the approval of the board of directors' written resolution, he took the helm of the U-22 national team.
Hyun Young-min, chairman of the Korea Power Reinforcement Committee, said, `Lee Min-sung has his own firm philosophy on game models and expressed his strong will and confidence in the managerial position through detailed team management plansHe explained the background of the selection, saying, "As a coach, the former team contributed to winning the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games and praised him for his know-how in running the national team and his achievements and experience in promoting the team from K League 2 to K League 1 as a coach."
Lee's debut match as the new coach is a friendly match for the U-22 national team against Australia at Mir Stadium in Yongin at 7 p.m. on June 5. Lee Min-sung is also scheduled to play a closed practice match against Australia on the 9th.
Meanwhile, the list for the friendly match against Australia was selected this time by Hyun Young-min in discussion with full-time leaders of the association who knew the players of that age well for smooth competition preparation and convocation procedures. Twenty-eight players were selected on the list, including Bae Joon-ho (Stoke City) and Lee Hyun-joo (Hanover 96).
◇Hana Bank Invited U-22 National Team Friendship Game Calling List
GK: Moon Hyun-ho (Kim Chun), Han Tae-hee (Daegu), Hwang Jae-yoon (Suwon FC)
DF: Kang Min-joon, Han Hyun-seo (Pohang), Park Chang-woo (Busan), Lee Won-woo (Daegu), Lee Hyun-yong, Hwang In-taek (Suwon FC), Cho Jin-ho (Radnitsky), Choi Seok-hyun (Ulsan), Choi Ye-hoon (Kim Chun), Choi Woo-jin (Jeonbuk)
MF: Kang Sang-yoon (Jeonbuk), Kang Sung-jin (Jeonbuk), Hwang Do-yoon (Seoul), Kim Dong-jin (Pohang), Kim Yong-hak (Portimonense), Moon Min-seo (Gwangju), Bae Joon-ho (Stoke City), Yoon Jae-seok (Ulsan), Lee Seung-joon (Corpacan), Lee Joon-kyu (Daejeon), Lee Hyun-joo (Hanover), Chae Hyun-woo (Anyang)
FW = Jeong Seung-bae (Suwon FC) Jeong Jae-sang (Daegu)
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
