Sunghong Hwang, Kangin Lee, PSG, the ‘6 Days’ Problem… The Conditions for Completing Plan A
Asian Games head coach Hwang Sun-hong still has some work to do.
On Thursday, Hwang announced the final roster for the national soccer team to compete at the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games. The final roster consists of 22 players, including 19 age-group players and three wild cards.
The tournament was originally scheduled to be held in Hangzhou, China, last September, but was postponed to September this year due to the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). As a result, the age of the competition was increased from U-23 to U-24.
Lee Kang-in (Paris Saint-Germain) will be the center of attention at the Hangzhou Asian Games. If he wins a gold medal at the Asian Games, he will be exempted from military service. In the last edition in 2018 in Palembang, Jakarta, Son Heung-min (Tottenham) competed as a wildcard and won gold. Many fans are hoping that Lee Kang-in will follow in his footsteps.
Not surprisingly, Lee made the final roster. “We were in constant communication with the athlete. Lee Kang-in himself had a strong desire to participate in the Asian Games.”
However, there are still some coordination issues. Lee recently moved from Mallorca to Paris Saint-Germain (PSG). With the change of clubs, the discussion about the exclusion has to be revisited. The Asian Games are not a compulsory call-up tournament, so players need their clubs’ permission to compete.
“I had talked to Mallorca about a transfer,” says Hwang. But then he signed with PSG, so we have to coordinate with them. We’re hoping that the talks will go well,” Hwang said, meaning he’s on the roster, but there’s still a process to go through.
The biggest challenge is the timeframe between the A-match call-up and the start of the competition. Hwang is scheduled to hold a full call-up on September 4. From the 4th to the 12th is the A-Match period, which is subject to mandatory withdrawal, so there is no problem for him to join. However, the six days between the 13th and the start of the tournament on the 19th are not mandatory.
“If PSG doesn’t allow it, Lee will have to go back to his club on the 12th and then rejoin the national team before the tournament,” Hwang explained.온라인카지노
In fact, the September A-match period is the only time when the team can maximize its organizational strength. It would be unfortunate for the national team to have Lee Kang-in, who could play a key role in keeping the sum of the parts together, return to his club and then rejoin the team.
On how to utilize Lee Kang-in, Hwang said, “We have both Plan A and Plan B in mind. “He’s a good player, he has individual ability, but soccer is a team sport. It’s important for all 22 players to pull in the same direction. He’s a smart player, so he’s fully aware of that, and I expect him to do a good job.”
The best situation would be to have a Plan A with Lee Kang-in without any other problems. In order for Plan A to pay off with a gold medal, the “six-day problem” must be solved.