South Korea captured its first East Asian Cup in seven years and its third overall, after posting a flawless record of one win and two draws over China, Japan and North Korea. Korea Football Association president Chung Mong-gyu is next to Kim.
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Halilhodzic, who has developed something of a siege mentality since his honeymoon period ended abruptly with the goalless draw at home to Singapore, attempted to put a positive spin on Japan’s draw with China but ultimately came up short.
Earlier Sunday, South Korea was held to a scoreless draw by North Korea at Wuhan Sports Center Stadium, and had to wait for a few more hours to see if Japan could help South Korea’s cause. “It’s important to win but it’s more important to show that we can keep improving”. “We couldn’t win it. Had we done the risk management better then we could have had a shot, but I hope people watching will forgive them for that”.
This was South Korea’s third East Asian Cup title, and its first since 2008.
China was looking to build on a reasonably successful Asian Cup in January, when it reached the quarterfinals, and would have lifted the trophy had it defeated Japan on Sunday.
In the locker room, Stielike motivates players before they go out on the game’s battlefield, Yu said. Also without European-based stars, the 2015 Asian Cup runner-up was the deserved victor, with a young team producing the performance of the tournament. “Before the kickoff, he told players that we should dominate and roar against our opponent like a tiger”, Yu said.
South Korea head coach Uli Stielike had the youngest team he’d assembled since taking over the national team last fall. It has been a good opportunity for the new players. “It hasn’t been long since Halilhodzic became coach and the team is still not functioning properly”.
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“The result of this tournament wasn’t made in just two weeks, but it is an effort that we have been putting on since October”, Stielike said on Monday at Incheon global Airport. “I think this trophy will give our players further motivation and plenty of confidence”. Defensive midfielder Jang Hyun-soo was named the tournament MVP, while Kim Young-gwon was named best defender of the tournament.
