An upset, but not a fluke. Behind the win over France was a thorough plan and calculation.

Kim Eun-joong’s U-20 team defeated France 2-1 on Sunday (June 23) at the Mendoza Stadium in Mendoza, Argentina, in their first Group F match of the FIFA U-20 World Cup 2023.

The victory over the French powerhouse and tournament favorites gave them a green light to advance to the round of 16.

Given France’s superior individual skills and physicality, Kim focused on building a tight block and not giving the opposition any space. Even if they lost possession, they built an organized defensive wall to prevent their opponents from entering the danger zone, but once they had the ball, they harassed their opponents with threatening attacks centered on strikers such as Lee Young-joon and Kim Yong-hak. In the 22nd minute, Kim Yong-hak and Lee Seung-won scored the first goal on a counterattack.

Lee Young-joon’s header in the 19th minute of the second half was also a well-planned goal. Lee Seung-won sent in a short free kick, and Young-joon bounced forward for a lightly deflected header.

After the game, Kim expressed his satisfaction with the tactics that led to the victory: “We prepared a defensive counterattack because France was the favorite. The players followed it well. They attacked hard at the end, but we didn’t lose our focus and didn’t concede a goal,” he said.

He also gave credit to the entire squad. “Some players played their best and some didn’t,” Kim said. Today, all 21 players played as a team and knew what to do,” Kim said.

South Korea will play the second game against Honduras on June 26. “The matches against Honduras and Gambia will not be easy,” Kim said, “and now that the first match is over, we will thoroughly prepare for the second match so that we can play a good game 메이저사이트.”