As summer approaches, the U17 Asian Cup will kick off with 16 elite teams competing for the precious four spots in the World Junior Championship. In a tournament that is considered to be the favorite to win the championship, the South Korean U17 men's soccer team has already departed early and flew to Europe to start an intense preparation and training. Not long ago, they played a warm-up match against European rivals Croatia U17. Despite conceding a goal early in the match, the Koreans were able to turn the game around and add the finishing touches to their victory!
Looking back at the U17 Asian Cup qualifiers that ended last year, the Korea U17s didn't perform as well as they should have. They lost 2-3 to Uzbekistan in the first round of the group stage. Recently, they were able to advance to the Round of 16 as the sixth player in the group by virtue of a narrow goal difference. Such a result is clearly not enough to fulfill the expectations of Korean fans. In order to boost the team's morale, the South Korean U17 men's soccer team assembled in advance and put all their efforts into the new preparation. Not long ago, they traveled to Croatia to participate in a four-nation tournament with strong teams such as Croatia U17, Turkey U17 and Denmark U17.
In the first round of the tournament, Korea U17 faced off with hosts Croatia U17. Before the match, both teams shared a moment of silence in honor of the victims of the earthquake in Turkey. Being more familiar with the field and climate, Croatia was the first to break the deadlock and took a 1-0 lead. However, the Koreans were not discouraged. With goals from Yoon Do-young and Kim Sung-joo in the 18th and 36th minutes, they equalized the score at 2-1 before halftime! Although both teams created chances, no one was able to rewrite the score again. In the end, Korea U17 won a 2-1 victory over Croatia U17 to open the tournament!
With this victory, the Korean U17 Men's Football Team managed to come out of the doldrums and showed great strength. In the upcoming U17 Asian Cup, they are expected to challenge for the title. As long as they play consistently, advancing to the semifinals will not be a problem for Korea U17, thus locking up a ticket to the Worlds. At the last Worlds, Korea U17s beat Mexico U17s 0-1, but unfortunately, they ended up in the semifinals. If they make it to the Worlds again, the Korean men's soccer team will undoubtedly aim for the title!
Meanwhile, China's U17 Men's Soccer Team also had a bright performance in the Asian Qualifiers, winning the group stage against Cambodia U17 and Northern Mariana Islands U17. In the group stage, they defeated Cambodia U17 and Northern Mariana Islands U17, and although they lost 1-3 to Australia in the final round, they still managed to qualify for the U17 Asian Cup on goal difference. However, as they failed to qualify for the last round of the tournament, the Chinese team was placed in the "Group of Death", and the road to qualification for the group stage was full of challenges!
I expect these young U17 players to surprise us, after all, it's been too long since the Chinese men's soccer team has tasted victory and a win is crucial for them!
