News & TVMen's U-23
Lee Kangin called up to Hwang Sunhong's side
16. May. 2022 14:52:21 14,233
Korea Football Association announced the squad for the AFC U-23 Asian Cup finals that will take place in Uzbekistan next month.
Amongst the 23 players on the list, Lee Kangin has returned to the U-23 national team after his stints at the Olympic Football Tournament in Tokyo last year. In fact, the Mallorca playmaker is called up for the first time by coach Hwang Sunhong, who took the reins in September last year. A quartet of overseas-based players, including Lee, have been called up by Hwang, with Jeong Sangbin (Grasshopper), Hong Hyunseok (LASK) and Oh Sehun (Shimizu) joining the side.
K League stalwarts Um Wonsang (Ulsan), Cho Youngwook (Seoul) and Eom Jisung (Gwangju) made the list, whilst familiar names like Park Jeongin (Busan), Kim Jusung (Gimcheon) and Kim Taehwan (Suwon) also received the calls from Hwang.
The AFC U-23 Asian Cup is a biannual competition that was launched in 2014. It also acts as the Asian qualifiers for the Olympics in the year of the Games, although this year’s edition is not the case. Korea Republic won the fourth edition of the tournament under the guidance of Kim Hagbum in 2020, and are looking to defend their title this time around.
Hwang’s charges are in Group C, where they will begin their campaign against Malaysia in Tashkent on 2 June, before taking on Vietnam on 5 June and then Thailand on 8 June. The final is scheduled to take place on 19 June.
Hwang said: “I’ve taken everything into account when selecting the players: the senior national team is called up for the A-matches in June, the K League clubs also have their fixtures, and the players have shown different forms and conditions in recent games. As for Kangin, I’m thinking about deploying him in central midfield so he can pull the strings as freely as he wants.”
AFC U-23 Asian Cup final squad (23-man list – Uzbekistan, June)
Goalkeepers: Park Jimin (Suwon Samsung), Min Seongjun (Incheon), Go Dongmin (Gyeongnam)
Defenders: Kim Jusung (Gimcheon), Lee Hanbeom (Seoul), Lee Sangmin (Chungnam Asan), Park Jaehwan (Gyeongnam), Lee Kyuhyuk (Jeonnam), Cho Hyuntaek (Bucheon), Kim Taehwan (Suwon Samsung), Choi Jun (Busan)
Midfielders: Hong Hyunseok (LASK), Go Jaehyeon, Lee Jinyong (Daegu), Kwon Hyeokkyu (Gimcheon), Goh Youngjoon (Pohang), Lee Kangin (Mallorca), Jeong Sangbin (Grasshopper), Um Wonsang (Ulsan), Eom Jisung (Gwangju)
Forwards: Cho Youngwook (Seoul), Oh Sehun (Shimizu), Park Jeongin (Busan)
Korea Republic in Group C alongside Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia
Team Sunhong crash out of AFC U-23 Asian Cup
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