“It’s like a kick in the gut”…’7-goal’ Jung Woo-Young gives Bundesliga a spicy kick
“When the ball comes to me, I kick it and it goes in”
Jung Woo-young, who has been on fire with seven goals to lead the Asian Games scoring charts, is ready for the final against Japan.
The Korean men’s football team, led by head coach Hwang Sun-hong, will face Japan in the men’s football final of the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games at the Huanglong Sports Center Stadium in Hangzhou, China, on Sunday at 9 p.m. KST.
It is a return match in the final after five years, as the two teams met in the final at Jakarta-Palembang 2018. Kim Hak-beom’s men’s team won the gold medal at the Asian Games, defeating Japan 2-1 in extra time with star players such as Son Heung-min, Hwang Eui-jo, Hwang Hee-chan, Lee Seung-woo and Kim Min-jae.
Hwang is determined to rebuild Korean soccer pride, which has been shattered by a 1-6-1 record and 19 goals conceded in the last seven matches against Japan.
The momentum is sky-high. The team opened the tournament with a nine-goal outburst against Kuwait in their first group game, followed by four more against Thailand in the second and three more against Bahrain in the final, to finish the tournament with 16 goals scored and no goals conceded.
In the round of 16, she scored five goals in a 5-1 win over Kyrgyzstan. He scored two goals each against hosts China and Central Asian powerhouse Uzbekistan. With 25 goals in six games, he broke the record for most goals in an Asian Games. That’s a whopping six more goals than the previous record set at Jakarta-Palembang 2018 (19).
At the center of the team’s rise has been Jung Woo-young, who is the tournament’s top scorer with seven goals.
After joining Stuttgart from Freiburg in the German Bundesliga ahead of this season, Jung has found form with the club. After being pushed aside in his final season at Freiburg, he has been a central figure in the Stuttgart side, starting every game since joining.
He started the league opener against Bochum, the league second-round match against Leipzig, and picked up his first offensive point with an assist against his hometown club Freiburg, shortly before joining the national team.
He carried that momentum into the national team. In his first game, he scored a hat trick against Kuwait. He followed that up with a multi-goal performance against Kyrgyzstan and then scored twice against Uzbekistan to help his team to a 2-1 victory.
He scored with his left foot, right foot, and head. That’s how good he is at scoring. Jung Woo-young himself is feeling it. After the game against Uzbekistan, he said in the Mixed Zone interview, “I feel like I can kick the ball when it comes to me, whether it’s in training or in a game.” He’s in great form.
Their opponents, Japan, are not at their best with a team made up mainly of university students. However, they can’t let their guard down. In the last tournament, they played an overtime match against Japan, who also had a university-oriented team. We can’t rule out the possibility of going to overtime again.
They have a lot of players with a lot of presence, such as captain Baek Seung-ho and ace Lee Kang-in, but most importantly, Jung Woo-young, who was responsible for most of their early goals. He is expected to be the spearhead of a Japanese defense that has conceded just two goals in the tournament 레고토토.
“Everyone has been running for one game (the final), and since it was the Korea-Japan game, I think it motivates us and makes us more determined,” Jung said.
If the Koreans beat Japan to win gold, they will become the first team in history to win three consecutive men’s soccer titles at the Asian Games. All eyes will be on Jung Woo-young to make history.