Korea Republic U-20 men’s national team managed to claim their second win in as many games, despite having rested some of their key players against Jordan.

Kim Eunjung’s charges defeated Jordan 2-0 in their second Group C match of the 2023 AFC U-20 Asian Cup that took place at the JAR Stadium in Tashkent, Uzbekistan on Sunday. After a goalless first half, Bae Junho opened the scoring on 65 minutes before Kang Sungjin slalomed through three defenders to score a wonderful goal that secured another three points for the Taegeuk Warriors. Having accumulated six points with two straight victories, Korea Republic have virtually sealed their place in the quarter-finals ahead of the final group match against Tajikistan on Wednesday.

With three days’s intervals between the games in the group stage in mind, Kim made seven changes to the side from the opening match. He opted for a 4-1-4-1 formation that was led by towering forward Lee Youngjun (Gimcheon Sangmu); Bae Junho (Daejeon Hana Citizen), Kim Heeseung (Daegu FC), Lee Seungwon (Gangwon FC) and Kang Sungjin (FC Seoul) in midfield; Park Hyeonbin (Incheon United) deployed as a defensive midfielder; Park Changwoo (Jeonbuk Hyundai), Hwang Intaek (Seoul ELand), Choi Seokhyeon (Dankook University) and Lee Junjae (Gyeongnam FC) at the back; Kim Joonhong (Gimcheon Sangmu) between the sticks.

The new-look team struggled to find their rhythm in the opening exchanges, unable to create any clear-cut chances despite forcing a series of corner kicks.

 

However, they geared up midway through the first half with Choi Seokhyun firing a warning shot with a header on 21 minutes. Moments later, Lee Seungwon broke into the edge of the area with a flamboyant dribbling, only to fire his effort just over the crossbar. Kim Heeseung glanced a header just wide of the left post on 24 minutes.

After absorbing the waves of attack, Jordan had their chances to fight back: Omar Al Osad saw his effort swerve out of the right post on 25 minutes, before Ali Ahmad Azaizeh twice came close to scoring on the stroke of halftime.

Kim Eunjung made a double substitution during the interval, replacing Lee Junjae and Kim Heeseung with Bae Seojun (Daejeon Hana Citizen) and Kang Sangyun (Jeonbuk Hyundai) respectively. The switch seemed to make an impact almost immediately, as Lee Seungwon lurked into the goalmouth to connect with a point blank effort. Kim Yonghak then came off the bench to replace Park Hyunbin as Kim Eunjung reinforced the attack midway through the second half.

The attack-minded approach paid dividends on 65 minutes, when a defensive mixup from Jordan resulted in Bae Junho with only the goalkeeper to beat. Bae made no mistake with an audacious lob over the keeper and into an empty net. 

The opening goal triggered another waves of attack from the men in red, and it took six minutes for them to extend the lead. Kang Sungjin, who had been called up to the senior national team, stole the show with flamboyant moves to dribble past two defenders before wrong footing another to fire his shot into the top corner.

With his side grabbing a two-goal lead, Kim Eunjung brought Park Junyoung on for Bae Junho to transform his rearguard into a back three. That proved enough to keep the Jordanians at bay as the Taegeuk Warriors rounded off another victory with a clean sheet.

2023 AFC U-20 Asian Cup Group C

Korea Republic 2-0 Jordan

Scorers: Bae Junho 65’, Kang Sungjin 71’

KOR: Kim Joonhong, Park Changwoo, Hwang Intaek, Choi Seokhyeon, Lee Junjae (Bae Seojoon 46’), Park Hyeonbin (Kim Yonghak 57’), Bae Junho (Park Junyoung 79’), Kim Heeseung (Kang Sangyoon 46’), Lee Seungwon, Kang Sungjin, Lee Youngjun (Sung Jinyoung 63’)