Asian Games 2023: South Korea told to ‘pretend this match never happened’ after 9-0 rout
- Players need to stay grounded after thrashing Kuwait, coach Hwang Sun-hong says, mindful of sterner tests to come
- South Korea are looking to become the first side to win three consecutive men’s football titles at the Games
South Korea’s bid for a third straight men’s football gold medal at the Asian Games got off to the perfect start with a 9-0 thrashing of Kuwait, but coach Hwang Sun-hong is giving his players little time to enjoy it.
With a more testing group match against Thailand looming on Thursday, Hwang is wary of complacency creeping in after his side ran riot against the Kuwaitis on Tuesday in Jinhua, southwest of host city Hangzhou.
“We’ll pretend this match never happened,” Hwang said after the game, according to Yonhap. “We have even more difficult matches coming up later and we have a long and challenging path ahead of us.”
South Korea, who are looking to become the first country to win three consecutive men’s football titles at the Games, are unlikely to get it quite so easy for the remainder of the tournament with the likes of Japan, Saudi Arabia, Iran and hosts China gunning for gold.
Hwang’s side could also face North Korea in the last 16 depending on the final group placings.