'Wild Card Trio All-Out': Lee Min-seong's Squad, Asian Games Opener Lineup Revealed... 'Yang Min-hyuk, Park Seung-soo, Lee Hyun-ju on Bench'

*This content was translated by AI.

The starting lineup for Lee Min-seong's squad, which is aiming for a fourth consecutive Asian Games men's football title, has been unveiled.

Under the command of Coach Lee Min-seong, the South Korean U-23 men's national team will face Qatar in the Group D opener of the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games at Mizuho Rugby Stadium in Nagoya, Japan, at 7:30 p.m. on the 15th.

Kim Myeong-jun (KRC Genk) will lead the front line as the lone striker. In the second-line attack, Bae Jun-ho (Stoke City) will anchor a trio that includes wild cards Yang Hyun-joon (Celtic FC) and Eom Ji-sung (Swansea City).

The midfield will be guarded by Lee Seung-won (Gangwon FC) and wild card Lee Gi-hyeok (Gangwon FC). The back four consists of Bae Hyeon-seo (Gyeongnam FC), Shin Min-ha (Gangwon FC), Choi Seok-hyun (Ulsan HD), and captain Kim Ji-soo (Brentford). Goalkeeper Kim Jun-hong (Suwon Samsung) will wear the gloves.

The reserve list includes Yang Min-hyuk (Westerlo), Park Seung-soo (Newcastle United), Lee Hyun-ju (Arouca), and Kang Sang-yoon (Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors).

Prior to the tournament, Coach Lee Min-seong stated, "It would be disrespectful to name every selected player, as it would exclude those who were not chosen. The coaching staff has deliberated dozens of times and determined that the current squad is capable of winning a gold medal. While there have been ups and downs in building team cohesion so far, this process has proven invaluable. It does not matter if four teams are grouped together; we will approach every match as if it were the final. We will secure victory with overwhelming performance from the very first group stage game."

South Korea aims to achieve a historic feat by winning its fourth consecutive Asian Games gold medal in men's football through this tournament.

However, there are variables. Due to Iraq's withdrawal from the originally assigned group, 15 teams will participate in this edition of the tournament, and Group D is the only one with just three teams competing in the group stage. Facing Saudi Arabia on the 22nd for their second match, South Korea holds a slight advantage in terms of physical management due to fewer games, but they face an extremely precarious situation where advancement to the quarterfinals and group standings will be decided solely by the results of these two matches, leaving no room for complacency.

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*This content was translated by AI.