Lee Min-sung-ho 'Another' Humiliating Defeat, '1-4 Defeated' by U22 Team of the U.S., a year younger

*This content was translated by AI.

The South Korean national under-23 (U-23), preparing for the 2026 Aichi and Nagoya Asian Games, was completely defeated by the U.S. under-22 (U-22), a year younger.

According to the Korea Football Association on the 1st, the U-23 national soccer team, led by head coach Lee Min-sung, lost to the U.S. 1-4 in a closed practice game at Korea Football Park in Cheonan, Chungcheongnam-do the previous day.

Originally, Lee Min-sung was scheduled to use the A-match period in March to conduct off-season training in Turkiye, but changed his plan to domestic training in consideration of the situation in the Middle East. In the process, Japan's Under-21 national team and the U-22 national team were invited to play a closed practice game.

Unlike Lee Min-sung-ho's U-23 national soccer team preparing for the Asian Games, Japan's U-21 national team preparing for the LA Olympics visited South Korea two years later. The U.S. was classified as a U-22 national team, including some 22-year-old players, but most of the players are said to be U-21 players from the LA Olympic generation.

South Korea even convened eight European players, including Kim Min-soo (FC Andora), Park Seung-soo (Newcastle United), Yang Min-hyuk (Coventry City), and Kim Ji-soo (Kaiserslautern). Some of them are resources to and from the A team led by head coach Hong Myung-bo. Nevertheless, he was completely defeated by the U.S. on that day.

South Korea lost the first goal in a corner kick in the seventh minute of the first half, but Park Seung-ho (Incheon United) equalized the penalty five minutes later. However, he later lost two more goals and allowed a wedge goal in the second half of the counterattack, losing 1-4.

South Korea, which beat Japan 2-1 earlier, finished the closed practice game with one win and one loss. Lee Min-sung will go to the Asian Games after conducting one more convocation training. Coach Lee, who was originally signed until the LA Olympics, will lead the team until the Asian Games and drop the baton. The head coach of the U-21 national team preparing for the LA Olympics will be appointed separately.

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*This content was translated by AI.