Advice to students who are about to take on a new challenge “Go crazy for soccer”
During an interview at the Kyunghyang Shinmun in Jeong-dong, Jung-gu, Seoul on the 21st, national team coach Kim Eun-joong, who wrote the ‘four-final myth’ at the FIFA Under-20 (U-20) World Cup, which ended earlier this month, said four fingers meaning ‘four-finals’. The dog is spreading out and smiling. Senior Reporter Jeong Ji-yoon.메이저사이트
The U-20 World Cup, which recently ended in Argentina, stimulated the nostalgia of soccer fans with the achievement of reaching the semifinals. The appearance of defeating France, Ecuador, and Nigeria one after another made it possible to feel the fighting spirit of the Korean soccer tradition again. It was a tough football that acknowledged the opponent’s superiority and took a step back, but faced it with grit with mobility.
Head coach Kim Eun-joong (44), whom we met at the Kyunghyang Shinmun on the 21st, said, “When our players stole the ball and even scored a goal, the crowd went wild. Isn’t the speed that flashes from the side the DNA of Korean soccer? It’s old football, but I thought it was a football we could play well.”
In fact, it was a little different from the soccer coach Kim was pursuing. Earlier, when the U-20 Asian Cup (joint 3rd place) with World Cup tickets was over, they used modern soccer that was solved with a passing game. After finishing his active career, coach Kim flew to the Belgian Jupiler League, a football powerhouse at the time, and learned advanced soccer by taking charge of the 2nd team coach, 1st team coach, and 1st team acting coach in order.
The change he chose ahead of the World Cup was an ordeal for him. Right before the World Cup, there was a big change in the environment, where the host country changed from Indonesia to Argentina, and in the meantime, key players such as Sung Jin-young (Korea University) and Lee Hyun-joo (Munich) collapsed, so they had no choice but to choose a different tactic. Recalling that time, coach Kim explained, “I wanted to change the game model suddenly after watching and watching the video of my first opponent, France.”
The players have wonderfully absorbed the new soccer that moves to a quick counterattack after stealing the ball from the midfield. In the first match of the group stage, against France, Korea was greatly behind in ball possession (32% vs. 57%, contested 11%) and number of shots (9 vs. 24), but won 2-1 and went on a winning streak to the semifinals.
Coach Kim said with a smile that the success of the World Cup, which no one expected, “came from imagination.” Director Kim said, “Actually, there are more than 30 to 40 ideas, but I only order 2 to 3 ideas from the players.” There is also an analysis that makes you want to be terrible. During the Asian Games in Jakarta and Palembang in 2018, he worked as a coach under coach Kim Hak-beom and had the experience of meticulously spotting the opponent’s weaknesses through video analysis that he had learned. After constructing scenarios in our heads about the opponent’s weaknesses and our strengths without rest, when an idea that the coaches recognize comes up, it is made into a tactic to be applied to the players.
The jackpot that exploded in the wilds of coach Kim’s imagination was Bae Jun-ho (Daejeon), the hero of the quarterfinal match against Colombia. Bae Jun-ho, who skipped the group stage due to injury, was placed in front of his teammate Bae Seo-joon, and Bae Jun-ho played a big role with 1 goal and 1 assist. Coach Kim said, “Sometimes, I think it’s important for national team coaches to put puzzles together.”
Director Kim, who returned home in gold, is currently unemployed. Accompaniment with the U-20 national team has ended as the Korea Football Association signs a contract with a full-time coach for each tournament. Considering the precedents in which former Seongnam coach Park Jong-hwan and former Seongnam coach Jeong Jeong-yong, who made more than the semifinals in the U-20 World Cup, seized a chance on the professional stage, it seems that an opportunity will come soon for him as well. Director Kim said, “I will study again while waiting for an opportunity to come someday.” At the same time, he said, “I want to use soccer that is fast and cool to be accepted by fans even if it attacks like the thick soccer that was shown this time.”
In fact, in the previous U-20 World Cup, with a star named Lee Kang-in (Mallorca), he wrote the history of being the best ever runner-up, but in the absence of a star player, the challenge of players called the ‘Valley Generation’ did not receive much attention in this tournament. Players who have grown significantly through advancing to the semifinals now face a new challenge to become a key player in their team. Coach Kim, who is free for the time being, promised to support his students from the stands. I’m going to the K-League field starting this weekend.
Manager Kim said, “(Kim) Ji-soo moved to Bradford in the English Premier League. I want the rest of the players to succeed in the pros as soon as possible and move on to Europe.” He also said, “Go crazy for football. Like Premier Leaguer Hwang Hee-chan (Wolverhampton) showed on a broadcast, I wish I could live thinking only of football.”