Lee Min-sung, who even took off the Cha Po-sang, left the battle site in the midst of evil, including KRW 2 and lack of training
Aug 31, 2025
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The men's U-22 national team, led by head coach Lee Min-sung, will play in the preliminary round of the 2026 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-23 Asian Cup in Surabaya, Indonesia, from the 3rd. They will play Macau on the 3rd, Laos on the 6th, and Indonesia on the 9th. The first-place team in the group will go straight to the finals, and the top four teams among the second-place teams will qualify for the finals. The finals will be held in Saudi Arabia in January 2026.
It is the first test of Lee Min-sung, who departed in earnest starting with a friendly match against Australia in June. The situation is not easy. I had a hard time starting right away. Due to league schedule problems, the national team was forced to be doubled. Fourteen people will leave first on August 31, and nine will join on September 1. Of course, normal training is impossible. Since there is no direct flight, it takes about 12 hours to get to Surabaya, where the game is played. As the latecomers arrive on the evening of the 1st, there is only one day to train as a whole.
Coach Lee, who used to be the head coach of the Asian Games and Olympic teams in the past, made use of his experience and formed a team centered on the members of the Australian team who have trained before instead of the new face. Even so, they couldn't build the members they wanted. Coach Lee initially wanted European strikers such as Yang Min-hyuk (Portsmouth), Yoon Do-young (Wittrecht) and Park Seung-soo (Newcastle). As this tournament was held during the A-match period, it was possible enough.
However, coach Lee did not select them considering the U-20 World Cup. It is unlikely that European players will join the U-20 national team, but it was consideration for coach Lee Chang-won to persuade them until the end. This is because if you select yourself, the possibility disappears at all. Kim Ji-soo (Kaiserslautern) was the player Lee strongly requested. Lee, who has no other center back other than Lee Hyun-yong (Suwon FC) and Han Hyun-seo (Pohang), persuaded Hong Myung-bo, who was considering selecting the A representative, and brought Kim Ji-soo.
Director Lee's trust men, who have a lot of concerns overall, were Kang Sang-yoon (Jeonbuk) and Lee Seung-won (Kimcheon). The two made their A representative debut at the last East Asian Cup. Manager Lee planned to build a midfield centered on the two players. However, it was out of order even before the departure. Kang Sang-yoon was excluded from the list due to injury. Jung Seung-bae (Suwon FC) is also out. Lee appointed Lee Kyu-dong (Jeonbuk) and Chae Hyun-woo (Anyang) instead. The weight of the midfield has dropped noticeably due to the exclusion of Kang Sang-yoon, who can release the game. Lee was tasked with finding Lee's partner throughout the tournament.
Unlike Macau and Laos, home team Indonesia is a burdensome opponent. Indonesia is known to have called four players who play for Team A. The pace of development is unusual recently, and home advantage is also worrisome. It's full of variables and anxiety, but there's no excuse. Lee knows better than anyone that the national team speaks with results. He said "My goal is to get to the finals with three wins."
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
