Doha, Qatar: Kim Young-gwon is eager to prevent a recurrence of the mistakes committed by South Korea in the AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023 group stage when they face Saudi Arabia in the Round of 16 today.
The defender said Korea Republic are determined to turn things around after a difficult group stage which saw them winning only once - against Bahrain - and settling for two hard-fought draws against Jordan and Malaysia.
“We know we have underperformed and for that we have paid the price,” said Young-gwon. “We are disappointed to have not finished in pole position in our group and are very keen to bounce back.
“But despite the obstacles, there is immense excitement in the squad as it is our first knockout stage game. We have prepared very well and will hopefully come out with a positive result.”
The enticing clash takes place at the Education City Stadium, the same venue where Young-gwon’s spectacular performance took the Taeguk Warriors past Portugal at the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 but the 33-year-old refused to draw attention to his personal achievement.
“Obviously I have very good memories of the Education City Stadium but nothing is about me right now. My focus is only on doing everything to help Korea Republic win,” he said.
“That was a different tournament, a different team and a different coach. I am only concentrating on doing well in the next match and my earlier personal achievements have no bearing on my focus.”
Having already conceded six goals, the Korean chose to focus on the silver lining of the setback having taken place in the group stage, giving the two-time AFC Asian Cup winners a chance to analyse and make changes.
“We were punished for our errors and are relieved that it happened early in the competition. We have used these instances to study and I think we can expect a very different approach from Korea Republic in the upcoming match.”
