Hwang Sun-hong to leave France on crutches “It will be difficult, but I will overcome it”
South Korean coach Hwang Sun-hong and members of the Olympic soccer team wait to leave the country at Incheon International Airport’s Terminal 2 on Wednesday morning. . The Olympic team will depart for France on Nov. 20 (local time) for an exhibition match against the France U-21 national team led by Thierry Henry in Le Havre, France.
Hwang Sun-hong, head coach of the Korean Under-22 Olympic soccer team, has departed for a training camp in France to begin preparations to become the world’s first team to qualify for 10 consecutive Olympic Games.
The Olympic team, led by Hwang, departed for France via Incheon International Airport on the morning of Nov. 13. In addition to training in France, the team will play a practice match against a local professional team on Sunday and the French Under-21 National Team on Tuesday.
The team’s head coach, Hwang Sun-hong, appeared at the airport with a brace on his right knee and crutches. “I’ve been suffering from pain since I was a player,” Hwang said. I couldn’t exercise properly for a year, so I had surgery last month. I will have to wear the brace for about another month,” he explained.
Despite the inconvenience, Hwang plans to improve the team’s perfection through training in France.
“The France U21 team we will play against is a world-class team. Through the trial, we will identify what we need to improve and what we need to keep, and prepare for the 2024 AFC U-23 Asian Cup and the Asian Final Qualifier for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in April next year,” said Hwang.
“No victory or result is a given. We need to be ready for any outcome,” he said. “It would be a great achievement for the current players and the world to become the first team to qualify for 10 consecutive Olympic Games. The final qualifiers are just around the corner, and we will do our best to achieve good results from now on.”
Hwang Sun-hong, head coach of the South Korean Olympic soccer team, enters Terminal 2 at Incheon International Airport on Wednesday morning to depart for France. The Olympic team will depart for France on Nov. 20 (local time) for an exhibition match against the France U-21 national team led by Thierry Henry in Le Havre, France.
Hwang Sun-hong coached the Asian Games U23 team alongside the Olympic team during the 2024 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U23 Asian Cup, which doubled as the first qualifier for the Paris Olympics in September in Changwon, Gyeongnam. Despite the challenges of coaching two teams, Hwang managed to win three consecutive Asian Games titles.
“After winning the Asian Games, I’m going to put it behind me and prepare for the upcoming final qualifiers,” said Hwang, who underwent knee surgery and rested as much as possible after the Asian Games. The final qualifiers are important,” said Hwang.
“In September, we were running two teams at the same time, which was the first time we had this experience,” he said. “Now that we can focus on one team, we will show a better performance. There will be difficulties, but we will overcome them and deliver performances and results that meet expectations.”
On having to prepare for the Olympics with a different team from the Asian Games, Hwang said, “We have to put together a new team because of the different ages of the players. We plan to maintain the basic framework, but we will operate the team according to the characteristics of the players and take into account various situations,” he said, sharing his plans for the Olympic team.
“I have a lot of concerns about the composition of the players. “Especially for the final qualifiers, it will be difficult to recruit players who play overseas,” he said. “Young players are developing through the K League, so we will focus on them to prepare for the final qualifiers. 토토사이트
