This Saturday (5), the Asian football gold medalists finally make their debut as the South Korean men's soccer team and the Japanese men's soccer team will relive the passionate clash of the last Asian Games final to compete for the highest honor in Asian soccer.
The drama of this final was foreshadowed at the start of the tournament, and coincidentally it was the same opponent as the previous final, Japan versus South Korea. South Korea met Uzbekistan in the quarterfinals in what was undoubtedly the toughest match of the tournament. South Korea broke the deadlock at the start of the match, but then the Uzbeks equalized. Luckily, striker Jung Woo-young scored a crucial goal just before halftime to help his team regain the lead. The second half was a stalemate, with constant Uzbek pressure forcing Korea to drop back and defend against both counter-attacks and set-pieces. It was a grueling second half for South Korea, as the players were under immense psychological pressure to win the gold medal and the chance to be exempted from military service.
In contrast, Japan was able to face Hong Kong in the quarterfinals with ease. The Hong Kong team did not create too many threats, the Japanese players did not celebrate too much after scoring, and the skipper, Mr. Oiwa, did not show too much excitement after the team's goal. Compared to South Korea, the pressure on Japan is obviously much less.
