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| photo courtesy of the Korea Football Association |
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| photo courtesy of the Korea Football Association |
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| photo courtesy of the Korea Football Association |
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| APYonhap News |
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South Korea's U-20 national soccer team won its first match in three games at the FIFA U-20 World Cup in 2025, saving its hopes for the round of 16.
South Korea, led by head coach Lee Chang-won, won 2-1 in the third Group B match against Panama at Estadio Elias Figueroa Brander in Valparaiso, Chile, on the 4th (Korea time). The national team, which led by Kim Hyun-min (Busan) in the 24th minute of the first half, dedicated an equalizer to Kevin Valder in the 7th minute of the second half, but Shin Min-ha (Gangwon) scored a leading goal and the winning goal in the 13th minute of the second half to secure three valuable points.
South Korea, which earlier lost to Ukraine 1-2 and drew 0-0 with Paraguay, finished the group stage in third place with one win, one draw and one loss in three games. At the same time, they tied with Paraguay (4 points), which lost 1-2 to Ukraine (7 points), but fell one goal behind on the difference. Paraguay scored four goals and South Korea scored three. In other words, it was reflected in the final ranking that he did not score a goal at a time when he had a numerical advantage due to the opponent's exit against Paraguay. The loss on the day was also painful.
However, his hopes for the round of 16 are still alive. In this tournament, which will involve 24 countries, a total of 16 teams from the first and second places in six groups and the third-place four teams with good performance will advance to the round of 16 tournaments. With its victory over Panama, South Korea failed to automatically qualify for the round of 16 to rise to first place among the third place in the entire group.
Now, Lee Chang-won is in a position to watch the results of the third-place team in another group. Currently, South Africa in Group E, Nigeria in Group F, and New Zealand in Group A have won three points side by side in two games, ranking second to fourth after South Korea among the third-place teams in the group. Group C Brazil and Group D Cuba ranked fifth and sixth with one point.
Considering the number of cases, if Brazil and Cuba fail to win against Spain and Cuba on the 5th, respectively, it is the icing on the cake. If that happens, the possibility of securing at least fourth place among the third place in the group increases. If Japan beats New Zealand in the final Group A match on the 4th, it can further increase its chances of reaching the round of 16. However, it is unclear whether Japan will mobilize all of its best members in the final match by already securing tickets to the round of 16 early with the victory of the current two games. In addition, the strongest team in Group E, the U.S. (six points), is the best if it beats South Africa on the 6th. Nigeria will play its last match against Colombia on the same day. In particular, Group F, which Nigeria belongs to, is a group that should be watched closely as No. 1 Colombia (four points), No. 2 Norway (four points), and No. 3 Nigeria (three points) are biting.
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| AFP Yonhap News |
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| AFP Yonhap News |
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South Korea launched a 4-2-3-1 formation against Panama that will determine the fate of the round of 16. Kim Myung-joon (Henk) took the lead in offense, while Kim Hyun-min, Kim Tae-won (Portimonens), and Choi Byung-wook (Jeju) took the second line in offense. Son Seung-min (Daegu) and Jung Ma-ho (Chungnam Asan) formed the midfield, Bae Hyun-seo (Seoul), Shin Min-ha, Ham Sun-woo (Hwaseong), and Choi Seung-gu (Incheon) formed the four-back, and Park Sang-young (Daegu) defended the goal.
Coach Lee applied for Football Video Support (FVS) 12 minutes into the game. It was based on the judgment that Son Seung-min tripped over the opponent's leg in the Panama penalty area. However, after an on-field review, the referee maintained the no-foul court.
Jeong Ma-ho's right-footed free kick was blocked by the goalkeeper in the 16th minute.
The 24-minute long-awaited first goal was scored. Bae Hyun-seo exchanged Lee Dae-il passes with Kim Hyun-min on the left side of the opponent's penalty box. The left-footed pass toward the center point of the box was exactly 'Delivery' to Kim Myung-joon, and Kim Myung-joon gave up the pass slightly so that Kim Hyun-min, who was behind him, could shoot with his back to the defender. Without hesitation, Kim Hyun-min swung his right foot and inserted the ball exactly into the upper right corner of the goal.
The first half ended with South Korea leading 1-0.
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| APYonhap News |
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| APYonhap News |
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Not long after entering the second half, a crisis briefly came. In the 7th minute of the second half, the opponent's left cross was helplessly delivered into the box, which Valder pushed with his left foot. It was a pity to deal with the cross. South Korea's ranking, which rose to second place in the group in real time, dropped back to third place. Ukraine was leading 1-0 in the first minute of the second half with Dekachi's first goal.
However, South Korea quickly scored a go-ahead goal again in the 13th minute of the second half. Shin Min-ha scored a left-footed corner kick from Son Heung-min with a sensational header in front of the goal.
The moment of crisis almost came again. In the 30th minute of the second half, the opposing team claimed a penalty kick by Seungho Choi's handball and applied for FVS. However, he was declared not to be a foul, so he swept his chest. South Korea succeeded in maintaining its one-goal lead until the end by replacing Baek Ga-on (Busan), Kim Hyun-oh (Daejeon), Sung-shin (Bucheon), and Ko Jong-hyun (Suwon).
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| APYonhap News |
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This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
