“This national team failed.”
With South Korean soccer recording its first group stage loss at the FIFA U-17 World Cup, head coach Byun Hyung-hwan, who took the helm of the tournament, clearly acknowledged responsibility.
After losing 1-2 in the final Group E match against Burkina Faso on the 18th, coach Byun said through the Korea Football Association, “All three games were not enough to show what we prepared,” adding, “The result of this national team can be said to be a failure.”
However, Byeon did not blame the players for the failure. “It’s definitely not a failure of our players. It’s my failure as a director. I am responsible for the results,” he said. 안전놀이터
South Korea sought to advance to the semifinals or more in this tournament beyond the best quarterfinals recorded in 1987, 2009, and 2019, but the results were disastrous.
The U-17 team fell to the U.S. 1-3 in their first game before losing to France 0-1. He then lost 1-2 in the final match against Burkina Faso, failing to get any points.
It is the first time that Korea has been eliminated from the group stage of the U-17 World Cup since it participated as a host country in the 2007 tournament in Korea and was eliminated with one win and two losses. It is the first time to lose all three group games.
Asked by local reporters whether the results are more important than the growth of the players, coach Byun said, “I never think so. “If I had only thought about the results, I would have chosen ‘defense and counterattack’ instead of trying to play offensive football in a way that makes it a short pass,” he said.
“Of course, if we played good football and followed the results, it would have had a more positive effect on the growth of the players,” he said. “I believe our players will grow into better players enough.”
He said, “I learned and felt a lot as a leader through this competition. “I will try to be a better leader and a leader who contributes more to the development of Korean soccer in the future,” he added.
Coach Byun said that there had been progress in terms of content, but it was no exaggeration to say that this tournament was a period that clearly revealed that the future of Korean soccer was uncertain.
In the match against the U.S., South Korea was dragged down by conceding the first goal in the first seven minutes, but Kim Myung-joon scored in the 35th minute of the first half to balance it out again. However, they gave the U.S. the lead in the second half, and they collapsed by allowing Cruz Medina in the fourth minute of the second half and Berquimas in the 28th minute of the second half. He was hampered by two net misfortunes and a significant drop in performance in the second half.
He also failed to earn a point in the second match against France. Two minutes into the first half, Matisse Amugu shook the Korean net with a mid-range shot. South Korea kept pushing France to make up for it after the first run. In the 13th minute of the second half, Jin Tae-ho’s shot hit the post and had to swallow even more regret. South Korea, which failed to turn the game around until the end of the second half, ended up losing its first two group games.
In the match against an African team that is showing strength in the U-17 World Cup, he performed even less. In the match against Burkina Faso, it was fortunate to score a goal.
South Korean players, who looked a little heavy on their feet, could hardly create a threatening scene even though they owned the ball, perhaps because Mexico in Group F defeated New Zealand 4-0 ahead of the match against Burkina Faso.
South Korea led 64% to 20% (16%) in the first half of the ball occupancy rate, but fell to 1-7 in the number of shots and 0-3 in the number of shots on goal. Burkina Faso, who used to drive the Korean camp quickly and fiercely when they caught the ball, took the lead first with Jack Diarra’s goal in the 24th minute of the first half.
Diara finished Valdeva’s forward pass with a right-footed shot from the left side of the goal area in a counterattack and split the Korean goal. At the start of the second half, head coach Byun Hyung-hwan made aggressive changes by bringing in Lee Chang-woo and Cha Je-hoon and putting in Bae Seong-ho (Daejeon) and Hwang Eun-chong (Sinpyeong High School), which worked.
Kim Myung-joon, who received Bae Sung-ho’s pass in the 4th minute of the second half, turned left against the defender and hit a right-footed turning shot, hitting the goalkeeper’s hand and heading to the net. Byun Hyung-hwan, who turned the game back to square one, launched a more aggressive attack, but the come-from-behind goal was rarely scored.
In the end, Burkina Faso scored the winning goal. In the 41st minute of the second half, Abudakar Kamara scored the winning goal by finishing Suleimani Alio’s forward pass with his right foot in front of the goal area.
South Korea was disappointed that Kim Myung-joon’s finishing of the diagonal cross with a diving header in the second half of the extra time slightly missed the left side of the net. In the end, he was humiliated by all three losses. Every time the whistle blew at the end of the 90th minute, the young Taegeuk Warriors bowed their heads and left the ground.
South Korea recorded the worst performance among the five Asian countries that took part in the finals with all three losses in the tournament.
Japan, Uzbekistan, and Iran ranked third in their respective groups and won tickets to the round of 16 tournaments given to the top four of the six teams ranked third in their respective groups. Japan and Iran finished the group stage with two wins and one loss. Uzbekistan recorded one win, one draw, and one loss.
Iran made an extraordinary upset in the group stage, overpowering Brazil. Japan also kept its pride in Asia by catching Poland and Senegal. Uzbekistan also continued its strength in Asian age tournaments on the world stage.
In addition, Southeast Asia and Indonesia, the host country, were also eliminated, but they fought hard in their own way, posting two draws and one loss. South Korea lagged behind Indonesia in points and recorded the worst performance among the five Asian participating countries.