It was a performance reminiscent of five years ago. Hwang Sun-hong’s Asian Games team scored a whopping nine goals in their first match of the tournament.
A hat-trick from Jung Woo-young (Stuttgart) and a brace from Cho Young-wook (Gimcheon) led the Korean Asian Games team to a 9-0 victory over Kuwait in their Group E men’s football match at the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games at the Jinhua Sports Center Stadium in Jinhua, China on Monday (June 19).
With national team ace Lee Kang-in joining the squad on June 21 after skipping the first two group games at the request of Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), Hwang Sun-hong Ho raised hopes of a third straight Asian Games title with a nine-goal performance against Kuwait in the first match of the tournament without Lee.
Jung Woo-young opened the scoring with a right-footed volley in the second minute of the first half, and after Uhm Won-sang (Ulsan Hyundai)’s shot hit the post in the 19th minute, Cho Young-wook calmly fired a heavy right-footed shot into the back of the net for his team’s second goal. After the goal, Cho Young-wook, who is completing his military service in Gimcheon, performed a salute ceremony.
Then, in the 44th minute, Baek Seung-ho (Jeonbuk) scored from a free kick, and a minute later, Jung Woo-young completed his multi-goal haul to make it 4-0 at halftime. With the second half still to come, Kuwait would cede control of the game to Korea as they struggled to stop the Korean onslaught.
Despite being desperate for a goal, Korea scored five goals in the second half to end Kuwait’s hopes of catching up. Jung Woo-young completed his hat trick two minutes into the second half, and four minutes later, 온라인바카라 Uhm Won-sang rattled the net off a pass from Cho Young-wook to extend the lead to six goals. In the 28th minute of the second half, Cho completed his multi-goal performance with a left-footed shot that rattled the net. Then, nine minutes into the second half, Park Jae-yong (Jeonbuk Hyundai) scored off a cross from Seol Young-woo (Ulsan) to make it 8-0 in the 34th minute.
Korea’s firepower was not to be denied. Ahn Jae-joon (Bucheon) added one more goal in stoppage time off a pass from Hong Hyun-seok (KAA Ghent) to make it 9-0.
With the 9-0 win over Kuwait, South Korea moved to the top of Group E and earned a spot in the Round of 16. Korea (3 points) moved to the top of Group E after Bahrain and Thailand, who played before Korea-Kuwait, shared a point in their first game with a 1-1 draw. South Korea will play Thailand in their second Group E match on Nov. 21 at 8:30 p.m.
With South Korea seeking a third consecutive Asian Games title, the team’s overwhelming display of firepower in the first game of the tournament, which saw them score nine goals, has already raised expectations of a gold medal, especially as it is reminiscent of the situation when they won the Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games five years ago.
Led by then-head coach Kim Hak-bum, the South Korean U-23 soccer team won the gold medal in the final of the Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games, defeating rival Japan 2-1. Kim Hak-bum’s team got off to a flying start in their first group game against Bahrain, a 6-0 thrashing.