Lack of a solid defensive midfielder. This is Kim Eun-Joong-ho’s biggest weakness.

The South Korea Under-20 football team, led by head coach Kim Eun-jung, drew 2-2 with Honduras in their second Group F match at the FIFA U-20 World Cup Argentina 2023 at the Estadio Malvinas Argentinas in Mendoza, Argentina at 6:00 a.m. on 26 June. The result leaves South Korea in second place with one win and one draw (four points).

Head coach Kim Eun-joong went with a 4-4-2 formation. He deployed Kang Sang-yoon next to striker Lee Young-joon, while Kang Sung-jin, Lee Seung-won, Bae Jun-ho, and Kim Yong-hak formed the midfield. It was a fairly aggressive line-up. Everyone in the midfield was a second choice. They had a lot of attacking talent, but they were clearly unfamiliar with the role of being the control tower in the centre, holding the centre and supporting the centre-backs.토토사이트

It was a shaky start. We dropped passes in the third and allowed Honduran forwards to break through. We conceded a penalty kick (PK) in the 20th minute. They were fortunate to gain a numerical advantage when Luis, who scored the PK, was sent off after a video assistant referee (VAR) review. Korea then went on the offensive and attacked in total, but their defence was shaky in transition. They conceded a goal six minutes into the second half to go down 0-2.

We were missing a defensive midfielder. The centre-backs were the only ones left to carry the load when everyone else was going forward. There was no one to act as a first line of defence. In the first match against France, Lee Chan-wook played as a defensive midfielder in the first half and Park Hyun-bin in the second half, but they performed rather poorly and even Kang Sang-yoon came down to support them in the second half. Rather than bringing either of them back into the starting line-up, coach Kim Eun-joong chose to focus more on attack, which didn’t work out too well.

They showed their fighting spirit and drew level at 2-2. In the 35th minute, Hwang In-taek was brought on to form a back three with Kim Ji-soo and Choi Seok-hyun. With only three defenders, we went all out in attack. They were unable to finish and suffered from a Honduran counterattack. Choi Seok-hyun was cautioned for attempting to commit an offence and was sent off cumulatively. The result was 2-2.

One win and one draw from two group games is encouraging and certainly puts the team in a good position to progress to the round of 16. However, with a recurring absence of a defensive midfielder and an overly attack-orientated style of football, it’s hard to see them progressing further. Furthermore, the team will be without their main centre-back Choi Seok-hyun and stalwart goalkeeper Kim Jun-hong due to carding in the third leg.

Lee could trust Lee Chan-wook or Park Hyun-bin again, or continue with the unorthodox use of Kang Sang-yoon in defensive midfield at the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-20 Asian Cup. Either way, the team needs a defensive midfielder to provide a focal point at the back.