Japan's 'two-year-old' is young against South Korea's semifinals, and Lee Min-sung's defeat will inevitably lead to a 'backstorm.'

*This content was translated by AI.

I barely took a breather, but it happened to be a match between Korea and Japan. If you lose any game, it will be a fatal blow, but even since you are a two-year-old team, the magnitude of the shock is inevitably greater when you lose. It is another crisis that has come to Lee Min-sung.

South Korea's under-23 (U-23) national soccer team, led by head coach Lee Min-sung, will face Japan in the semifinals of the 2026 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-23 Asian Cup at 8:30 p.m. on the 20th (Korea Standard Time) at King Abdullah Sports City Hall Stadium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Earlier, after narrowly passing Group C in second place, South Korea beat Australia 2-1 in the quarterfinals to advance to the semifinals for the first time in six years and three tournaments. His performance was not good throughout the group stage, and despite his complete defeat against Uzbekistan, he reached the quarterfinals thanks to the results of other teams. Fortunately, he overcame his first crisis and qualified for the semifinals.

On the other hand, Japan passed Group B in all three games. Amid the overwhelming record of 10 points and no runs, he was evaluated as a favorite early on. However, they reached the semifinals after a fierce battle with Jordan at the first gate of the quarterfinals tournament. In any case, compared to South Korea, where the atmosphere is on an upward curve, Japan's momentum was dampened and the "four-way match between Korea and Japan" took place.

Due to the nature of the Korea-Japan war, both South Korea and Japan are burdened. Defeat is bound to be a fatal blow to any team. Moreover, the burden is bound to double as the qualification for the finals is on the line. However, in terms of its size, Korea is much larger. This is because South Korea has set its sights on the U-23 national team, while Japan has entered the tournament as a two-year-old U-21 national team. The average age for entries in this year's tournament is 22.1 years in Korea and 20.4 years in Japan.

Of course, there are two players born in 2006, but South Korea is led by the U-23 national team, with 10 players born in 2003. As it is a team preparing for the Aichi and Nagoya Asian Games in September this year, the team has formed a team as close to the U-23 national team as possible. On the other hand, Japan has formed a U-21 national team to participate in the Los Angeles (LA) Olympics two years later. The Asian Games, which will be held in the country, will also play for the U-21 national team. As U-21 players will become the mainstay of the U-23 national team in two years this year, the intention is to build up organizational power early and prepare for the Olympics in two years.

Naturally, from South Korea's point of view, the defeat in the Korea-Japan match will inevitably lead to a loss to the Japanese team, which is "two years younger." On the contrary, from Japan's point of view, even if they lose to Korea, they can rationalize their defeat in that it was a tournament where they played for the U-21 national team. Defeat in the match between Korea and Japan is fatal to each other, but the magnitude of the impact is inevitably different.

Lee Min-sung already suffered a "disgrace" once in the last group stage. Uzbekistan, which was completely defeated 0-2 after a lethargic game in the final group match, was also a team that played in this tournament as a U-21 national team like Japan. It was also the reason why criticism against Lee Min-sung was even stronger immediately after the game, and if the same result comes out in the Korea-Japan match, a strong aftermath is inevitable in line with the specificity of the Korea-Japan match.

South Korea is dominant with eight wins, four draws and six losses in the past between South Korea and Japan's U-23 national team. South Korea won 1-0 in the group stage of the AFC U-23 Asian Cup in April 2024, the most recent face-off, at which time both South Korea and Japan faced off as U-23 national teams. As such, South Korea won 2-1 at the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games, when Japan played as a two-year-old team. However, in the quarterfinals of the 2022 AFC U-23 Asian Cup, South Korea lost 0-3 and lost its pride.

If South Korea beats Japan and reaches the final, it will compete with the winner of the Vietnam-China match led by head coach Kim Sang-sik for the championship. In some cases, a final showdown between South Korea led by head coach Lee Min-sung and Vietnam led by head coach Kim Sang-sik may take place. Immediately after advancing to the semifinals, coach Lee Min-sung said, "I will prepare well to show better performance in the semifinals."

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*This content was translated by AI.