“It’s the A team that’s in trouble after the elimination of this team of 1999-born players.”

South Korea’s Asian Games football team, led by Hwang Sun-hong, 55, won 2-0 against China in the quarterfinals of the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games at the Huanglong Sports Center Stadium in Hangzhou, China, at 9 p.m. ET on Monday.

With the win, South Korea moved one step closer to gold. South Korea will face Uzbekistan, who defeated Saudi Arabia 2-1 in their previous match.

For this game, Hwang Sun-hong made an unorthodox starting lineup, sending “ace” Lee Kang-in, “gun” Jung Woo-young, and Uhm Won-sang, who had combined to form the second line, to the bench. Instead, Song Min-kyu, Ko Young-joon, and Ahn Jae-joon started. On the left flank, Park Kyu-hyun started instead of “wild card” Seol Young-woo.

Hwang Sun-hong made a bold decision to bench the players who had been the mainstays of the team before the match against China, but it didn’t matter. South Korea took an early lead in the first half with back-to-back goals from Hong Hyun-seok and Song Min-kyu, and maintained their focus in the second half to secure their spot in the quarterfinals.

After the game, Chinese media outlet Sohu published the assessments of Chinese soccer journalists. Among them, reporter Xiaonan said, “The fact that South Korea started a Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) player from the bench shows how big the talent gap is between South Korea and China. Regardless of the inappropriate evaluation by some Korean media, Chinese football should humbly accept the difference,” he said.

“It is the A team that is in trouble after the elimination of this 1999-born team. What are the prospects for the A match between China and South Korea in November? This match probably gave us a lot of insights,” he said, emphasizing the difference between the quality of the two Asian Games teams and the quality of the A team.

“The Chinese Asian Games team reached the quarterfinals of the tournament. This is a decent result based on their performance. There is a saying in soccer: ‘Fight with your feet, but don’t fight with your mouth’. You have to recognize your shortcomings and be courageous.”온라인바카라

Another reporter, Zhao Jian, said, “Many people will think that a 0-2 defeat is an acceptable result. I can understand that. But if you think about it, what a lethargic sentence. We should stop thinking about winning and losing. Let’s stop thinking about how many more times we will lose,” he said, criticizing the lethargy of Chinese football.

Meanwhile, South Korea and China’s A team will face each other in Group C of the second Asian qualifying round for the 2026 FIFA North America Cup in November.