*This content was translated by AI.
South Korea's under-23 (U-23) soccer team ranked fourth after losing to Vietnam after a penalty shootout in the third place match of the 2026 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-23 Asian Cup. Lee Min-sung, head coach of the U-23 national team, said, "We are not in the final stage yet."
South Korea remained fourth in the tournament after losing 6-7 in the penalty shootout after failing to match 2-2 in regular time and overtime at the King Abdullah Sports City Hall Stadium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on the 24th (Korea time). The official record is a draw, but this is the first time in 10 games that South Korea has knelt down in a face-off against Vietnam's U-23 national team since 6 wins and 3 draws.
South Korea, which allowed the first run in the 30th minute of the first half, balanced it with Kim Tae-won's equalizer in the 24th minute of the second half. After that, he was cornered by losing the lead again in two minutes, but Shin Min-ha's dramatic equalizer broke out in the 7th minute of extra time in the second half, leading the game to extra time. Lee Min-sung, who played overtime amid numerical superiority due to the opponent's exit at the end of the second half, failed to break the balance in the end and lost after a penalty shootout.
Lee Min-sung, who was defeated 0-2 by Uzbekistan, two years younger in the group stage, and lost 0-1 to Japan, two years younger in the semifinals of the tournament, ending the tournament with a humiliating result of losing to Vietnam for the first time.
Coach Lee Min-sung, who went to the press conference after the game, said, "It's a very disappointing result," adding, "I should have calmly solved the game, but I was sorry that I couldn't." "I should have supplemented the technical part when dealing with a team that is inferior in numbers, but it was a pity that I couldn't."
At the same time, director Lee Min-sung said, "It is not in the final stage yet. "It's a team that has to continue to develop," he said. "It was a pity that they lost points too easily defensively. There were many good points in scoring against Lebanon and Australia. I think it will get better if we go into more detail and the movement in the half-space or the final third is better," he added.
Fortunately, this year's competition is not an Olympic qualifying event, so it has nothing to do with the right to participate in the Olympics. Instead, two years after only two Los Angeles (LA) Olympic qualifications were taken, it is likely to be reflected unfavorably in the allocation of the AFC U-23 Asian Cup finals draw port (seed). Lee Min-sung will return home on the afternoon of the 25th.
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*This content was translated by AI.
