Korea’s U20 World Cup team has been impressing with every game, and in three days, they will face Italy for a place in the final. Four years ago, Lee Kang-in was named MVP after leading his team to the final, but this time around, captain Lee Seung-won is doing the same.

Reporter Kim Hyung-yeol reports.메이저사이트

<Reporter

Lee Seung-won, the ‘Captain of Kim Eun Joong-ho’, scored the opening goal in the first match of the group stage to defeat France, and then went on to lead his team to an unbeaten run as a ‘special assistant’.

At every corner or free-kick opportunity, he delivered a ruler-like kick to a teammate’s head, assisting Park Seung-ho’s equaliser in the second game against Honduras as they came back from the brink of defeat, and Choi Seok-hyun’s winners in the round of 16 and quarter-finals all started from Lee’s right foot.

[Lee Seung-won/U-20 World Cup captain: I told (my teammate) to go in sharply because I’m going to put it in strongly when the corner kick goes in, and I think they were able to get into position well, so it was easy for me to put it in with my head again].

With one goal and four assists, Lee has five offensive points in five games, which is close to last year’s tournament MVP Lee Kang-in’s performance with two games still to go.

His work-rate and dedication to the game are reminiscent of Park Ji-Sung in the past, so much so that some have called him a “captain” – a mix of Lee Kang-In and Park Ji-Sung.

[Lee Seung-won/U-20 World Cup captain: “I think (the coach’s) words, ‘Let’s come out with no regrets,’ really hit home and motivated me].

Our team arrived in La Plata, the venue of the semi-final, on a FIFA charter flight three days before the final.

We played a hard-fought 120 minutes in the quarter-final and have one less rest day than Italy, so we’re focusing on recovering our fitness.

[Kim Yong-hak/U-20 World Cup striker: It’s not without physical strain, but we have three days off now, so we’ll take three days off and prepare well for the next game so we can win].

The team will begin customised training for the match against Italy tomorrow (7th) and will attempt to make history by reaching the final for the second consecutive time on Friday.