Soccer's Seol Young-woo: "If I don't win first place, this tournament means nothing"

Ulsan's Seol Young-woo, a defender for the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games men's soccer team, is determined to win the final against Japan on Sunday.

"All the players, coaching staff and support staff have united to win many games and struggled to get to this point," Seol told reporters at a training ground near the Huanglong Sports Center in Hangzhou, East China's Zhejiang Province on Saturday. "We have a final against Japan, and no matter how much I think about it, there are so many reasons to win and I have the confidence to win, so I will unconditionally go for the gold medal."

When asked about the many reasons to win, he said, "It's just Japan," and emphasized that "that alone is enough reason to win unconditionally."

South Korea will win their third straight Asian Games title if they defeat Japan in the final on Sunday. Winning three consecutive men's soccer titles at the Asian Games is a feat that has yet to be accomplished by any country.

"The biggest advantage of our team is that it doesn't make much difference who comes in and plays," said Seol Young-woo, referring to the relatively short time frame of the tournament. "We've been rotating really well since the group stage, so we have a lot of strength left, and we don't have any physical problems compared to other teams."

Japan, the finalists on Sunday, fielded a team with players under the age of 22.

Korea, on the other hand, is said to have an advantage over Japan in terms of strength, as they used both players under the age of 24 and a wild card that allows them to field up to three players.

"I don't think about the fact that they're young," said Seol, "but they have good passing and good fundamentals, so we have to prepare well," he added.

"I've seen a lot of Japanese soccer, so I know it well," he said, describing the style as "the opposite of Uzbekistan, who were our quarterfinal opponents."

"Uhm Won-sang needs to check his physical condition (to see if he will play in the final), and I have a dislocated shoulder, but I think he will be fine," he said of his teammates in the semifinal against Uzbekistan.

Seol Young-woo was born in 1998 and is one of the three wildcards in the tournament.

"I'm sorry that I joined the team a little late, and there was a feeling that I wasn't good enough in terms of understanding tactics and getting along," he said. "However, I have adult national team experience and have played more big games, so I think I need to give them a lot of positive things and instill confidence in them before the big game."

"Coming to the final without overtime has boosted the players' confidence," said Seol Young-woo, adding, "I will try to control my confidence so that it doesn't turn into complacency and finish the game in 90 minutes tomorrow."

"All of us came here with the idea that we had to finish first," he said, adding, "If we don't finish first, I honestly don't think it means anything in this tournament." He expressed his determination to win gold. 토토