In the semifinals of the U20 Asian Cup, which ended in the early hours of March 16, Beijing time, the South Korean U20 men's soccer team achieved a 0-0 draw with host Uzbekistan after 120 minutes of intense fighting. In the penalty shootout, South Korea's four men took three penalties and were eventually eliminated from the final 1-3 by Uzbekistan.
Ironically, after the match, Seoul Sports, a leading South Korean media outlet, angered the Chinese U20 men's soccer team for South Korea's crime of missing out on the final. Earlier, South Korea beat China 3-1 in extra time in the quarterfinals to reach the quarterfinals.
But in that game, the Korean players spent a lot of physical strength to make the comeback. Not only that, Korea's main midfielder, captain Lee Seung-won was injured.
The Korean media expressed their anger: "There are many reasons why Korea missed the U20 Asian Cup final, but the most important reason was the absence of Lee Seung-won, the main midfielder and captain. He was replaced in the first half of the last eight match against China after being injured by a rough foul from the opposing team. In the first two games of the group stage, Lee Seung-won was the team's commander with his accurate passing and passing. His absence undoubtedly greatly reduced the strength of the Korean team. This time, facing Uzbekistan, Lee Seung-won's absence made the Korean team lack accurate passing and scheduling and failed to play a sharp offense." It's not hard to hear between the lines of the Korean media, who are clearly blaming the Chinese team for being wrong.
According to statistics, the U20 national football team committed 22 fouls in the battle between China and South Korea, and South Korea also committed 15 fouls. There were many intense physical confrontations between the two sides in the fierce battle, and many people retired from the U20 national soccer team with injuries. So it seems a bit too far-fetched for the South Korean media to simply take the team's loss of the title and be angry at the Chinese U20 men's soccer team.
