Director Lee Min-sung of the 'flu bad news' finally missed the press conference for the Korea-Japan match, saying, "I'm sorry... 日Team Kang with a lot of experience"

*This content was translated by AI.

Lee Min-sung, who took a breather after a blood fight against Australia in the quarterfinals, will meet his fateful rival Japan on the final road. Lee Min-sung, coach of the U-23 national soccer team, missed the pre-Korea-Japan press conference due to his condition.

South Korea's U-23 national soccer team, led by head coach Lee Min-sung, will play against 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.

A bad news broke out ahead of the important battle. The Korea Football Association announced on the 19th that "Coach Lee Min-sung will not attend the official press conference for the semifinals due to the team doctor's opinion due to worsening cold symptoms." Instead, head coach Lee Kyung-soo and vice-captain Lee Hyun-yong (Suwon FC) attended.

Coach Lee Min-sung, who failed to attend the press conference, said through the association, "I'm sorry I couldn't attend the press conference because I wasn't in good shape," but added, "Japan has formed a team with U-21 but is a strong team with a lot of professional experience of the players. We are also preparing well to play well to take advantage of our strengths. I will do my best to continue the winning momentum," he said.

This match between Korea and Japan is a more burdensome game for South Korea. In September this year, South Korea formed a team with the best U-23 members targeting the Aichi and Nagoya Asian Games. On the other hand, Japan dispatched the U-21 national team to aim for the Los Angeles Olympics two years later. The average age of entries in Korea (22.1 years) is nearly two years older than Japan (20.4 years).

South Korea has already lost face by losing 0-2 to Uzbekistan, which played as a U-21 national team like Japan in the group stage. If the specificity of the Korea-Japan war is added, the aftermath of defeat may be beyond imagination.

The atmosphere is not bad. South Korea struggled to pass Group C in the group stage, but beat tough opponent Australia 2-1 in the quarterfinals to gain momentum. He has regained his confidence by advancing to the semifinals for the first time in six years and three tournaments. On the other hand, Japan, which passed the group stage without losing a point, barely made it to the semifinals by fighting Jordan in the quarterfinals.

In the previous record, South Korea is ahead with eight wins, four draws and six losses. South Korea won 1-0 in the group stage of the 2024 U-23 Asian Cup, the most recent face-off, and South Korea also won 2-1 in the final of the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games, where Japan played as a U-21 team. However, there is also a painful memory of 0-3 defeat in the quarterfinals of the 2022 U-23 Asian Cup, so we must not let our guard down.

If 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 cup. In some cases, the possibility of a final showdown between Korean head coaches is also open.

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*This content was translated by AI.