U23 Thailand, U23 Korea “lead” U23 Vietnam into the quarterfinals

Starting lineup Korea U23 – Thailand U23

South Korea U23: Dong-min, Choi Jun, Cho Young-wook, Go Jae-hyeon, Hong Hyun-seok, Kim Joo-sung, Kwon Hyeok-kyu, Lee Kang-in, Lee Kyu-hyuk, Lee Sang-min, Oh Se- hun.

Thailand U23: Lakhonphon, Gustavsson, Kaman, Khemdee, Mickelson, Palapon, Panya, Paso, Rueangthanarot, Thongcham, Todsanit.

Scored: Go Jae-hyeon (35′).

Possessing a higher-rated squad, U23 Korea did not have too many difficulties in creating a dominant position compared to U23 Thailand. However, the waves of the football team of the land of kimchi were quite monotonous, so they were easily blocked by the “War Elephants” defense.

It was not until the 35th minute that the Korean team broke the deadlock. Go Jae-hyeon escaped to break the offside trap and then entered the penalty area before coldly knocking out goalkeeper Nopphon Lakhonphon in a face-to-face position, opening the scoring for Korea U23.

After Go Jae-hyeon’s opening goal, Korea U23 continued to attack. In the 38th minute, Cho Young-wook passed the ball in the penalty area, but was close to the 5m50 line and was not accompanied by anyone, Kwon Hyeok-kyu again missed the post along the Thailand U23 goal.

In the second half, U23 Thailand was forced to try to raise the squad to find an equalizer. However, with a stronger midfield, Korea U23 still holds complete control of the game. That makes the students of Coach Worrawoot Srimaka very rarely have the opportunity to organize the ball up towards the goal of goalkeeper Goh Dong-min.

Until the 80th minute, Thailand U23 had the opportunity to equalize the score 1-1. Unfortunately, striker Achitpol Keereerom could not defeat goalkeeper Goh Dong-min in a face-to-face position.

For the rest of the match, Korea U23 actively reduced the tempo of the match, and Thailand U23 did not have any notable attacks. Therefore, the score 1-0 in favor of the Korean team was kept until referee Salman Ahmad Falahi blew the whistle to end the 90 minutes of play.

With this result, Korea U23 leads Group C with 7 points after 3 matches. U23 Vietnam ranked second with 5 points. Together, the two qualified for the quarterfinals. Thailand U23 (4 points) was eliminated like Malaysia U23 (0 points).