◀ Anchors ▶
MBC commentator Lee Dong-hwan also gave encouragement and advice to the juniors who fought well.
He emphasized that the remaining third and fourth place matches would be of great significance to the players.
Reporter Park Ju-lin
◀ Report ▶
After the Korean national team’s last attack in extra time was thwarted, commentator Lee Seong-hwan felt as if he was on the field.
It wasn’t until long after the whistle blew that he opened his mouth to the juniors, who had their heads down.
[Steady Hwan/MBC commentator]
“It’s really great that the players made a team with the coach and made it this far. Even four is really great.”
Even after losing possession, the national team defeated the top teams with ‘player-payback’ silly soccer and reached the quarterfinals.
Ahn praised the team for showing their own colors throughout the tournament with a long view, leading to the result.
[Ahn Jung-hwan/MBC commentator]
“To reach the quarterfinals with this new tactic, which is not used by other coaches, (shows) that the players and coaches put in a lot of preparation and effort.”
Ahn, who has experience in the Italian league, also gave advice on areas that were disappointing, such as conceding goals.
[Ahn Dong-hwan/MBC commentator]
“(The opponent) had a lot of numbers in the midfield and we were a little bit lacking in catching the part where they were attacking… We did well in dealing with the messy play, but we were a little bit psychologically shaken.”
Their opponents in the third and fourth place matches are Israel, the “surprise team” that defeated Brazil in the quarterfinals.
As a senior who experienced the third- and fourth-place matches at the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup, he asked them to do their best until the end.
[Steady Hwan/MBC commentator]
“You might think that the third- and fourth-place games are meaningless, but it’s a game where the players can gain a lot of experience, and it’s a game that can help them when they go to the adult national team or their respective teams, so I’d like to ask for a lot of support.”