Korea Republic’s Olympic Games national team claimed a hard-fought victory over the United Arab Emirates in their opening match of the Asian Qualifiers for Paris 2024.
 

Substitute Lee Youngjun headed home deep into added time, as Hwang Sunhong’s charges edged UAE 1-0 in their Group B opener at the 2024 AFC U-23 Asian Cup staged at Abdulla Bin Khalifa Stadium in Doha, Qatar on Tuesday. Japan also claimed a 1-0 win over China PR, against who the Taegeuk Warriors will face in their second game on Friday.
 

These finals also act as the final round of qualifying for Paris 2024 Olympic Games: top three teams qualify directly for the finals, with the fourth placed team to play off against Guinea that finished fourth in the African qualifiers. A total of 16 teams are divided into four groups of four teams, with top two sides from each group advancing to the knockout phase.
 

Despite the absence of some of the key players due to their club commitment or injuries, Korea Republic have bounced back with all three points in their campaign opener. They might as well cross swords against Japan in a possible group decider, should they manage to defeat China PR in the forthcoming game in three days’ time.
 

Hwang opted for a 4-2-3-1 formation, in which An Jaejun started as a lone striker supported by Eom Jisung, Kang Sangyoon and Hong Sihoo. Lee Kanghee and Paik Sanghoon operated as defensive midfielders; Cho Hyuntaek, Byeon Junsoo, Seo Myungguan and Hwang Jaewon at the back; and Kim Jeonghoon between the sticks.

Korea Republic surged forward right from the off, with Lee Kanghee unleashing a powerful shot that Khaled Tawhid managed to get a hand on.
 

The men in red piled up the pressure and almost drew first blood after 19 minutes, when An Jaejun latched onto Kang Sangyoon’s low cross from the right. However, the goal did not stand after a VAR review adjudged Kang to be offside when Hwang Jaewon dragged the initial effort against the left post.
 

Paik Sanghoon then saw his low shot smothered by Tawhid, as the Taegeuk Warriors struggled to translate their dominance into scoring on the stroke of half time.
 

Hwang rang a couple of changes right after the interval, as towering forward Lee Youngjun and livewire winger Kang Seongjin came off the bench. Lee Kanghee glanced a point-blank header off a Cho Hyuntaek cross from the right, only to see his effort go just wide of the left post. Eom Jisung then headed just over the crossbar midway through the second half.
 

Another offside decision kept Korea Republic from taking the lead with three minutes remaining, when Kang Seongjin’s powerful header off a Kang Sangyoon cross was ruled offside as the latter was adjudged to be ahead of the line when he had received the ball from behind.
 

The deadlock was finally broken four minutes into added time, as substitutes Lee Taeseok and Lee Youngjun combined for a dramatic winner: Lee Taeseok’s corner from the right was headed home from close range by Lee Youngjun. Korea Republic held on to protect the slim advantage against a depleted Arab Emirates side.

2024 AFC U-23 Asian Cup

Group B

Korea Republic 1-0 United Arab Emirates

Goal: Lee Youngjun (90’+4)

KOR: Kim Jeonghoon(GK), Cho Hyuntaek (Lee Taeseok 77’), Byeon Junsoo, Seo Myungguan, Hwang Jaewon, Lee Kanghee (Kim Minwoo 65’), Paik Sanghoon, Eom Jisung (Hong Yoonsang 73’), Kang Sangyoon, Hong Sihoo (Kang Seongjin 46’), An Jaejun (Lee Youngjun 46’)