The Chinese Football Association announced on its website on June 25 that it will hold two (June 15-19) exhibition matches against the South Korea U24 national team at the Jinhua Sports Center Stadium in Jinhua City, Zhejiang Province, China.
The Korea Football Association also said on the same day, “At the request of the Chinese Football Association, we are in talks to hold two exhibition matches next month.” Barring any changes, it seems likely to happen.
Hwang Sun-hong’s U24 men’s team will be going for gold at the Hangzhou Asian Games. South Korea will be looking for a third consecutive gold medal, having won back-to-back titles at the 2014 Incheon Asian Games and 2018 Jakarta Palembang.
The Hangzhou Asian Games will be held from Sept. 19 to Oct. 7 at eight venues in six cities, including the Jinhua Sports Center, which is hosting the exhibition match against China.
“We’re playing in China for local adaptation,” coach Hwang Sun-hong told News1, “so we can get a feel for the climate, conditions, and other things.”
The only catch is that the trial will take place during the A-Match in June.
The A team, coached by Jürgen Klinsmann (GER), will play two matches against Peru (Busan) on June 16 and El Salvador (Daejeon) on June 20.
Oh Hyun-gyu (Celtic), Lee Kang-in (over 22-Mallorca), Jung Woo-young (24-Freiburg) and Uhm Won-sang (24-Ulsan), who are all eligible for the A squad led by Hwang Sun-hong-ho and Klinsmann, will need to organize their transportation. 스포츠토토
Lee Kang-in, in particular, was a key midfielder for Klinsmann’s team in the March A match, so it will be interesting to see which team he will wear this time around. Korea has faced coordination issues between the A team and the Olympic team in the past, even before the Tokyo Olympics.
“We’ve talked to Coach Klinsmann,” Hwang said, “and the basic idea is to have a coordinated system between the national teams.”
“Coach Klinsmann recognizes the importance of the Asian Games,” Hwang said, “and it’s true that the A team comes first. He cannot unilaterally demand our position, so we will continue to coordinate and discuss.”
