Coach Jürgen Klinsmann Links to an external site. of the Korean national soccer team is smiling at the Al Egla Training Center in Doha, Qatar, on the 28th (local time) ahead of the round of 16 match against Saudi Arabia in the 2023 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Qatar Asian Cup. 

Klinsmann, who is attempting to win the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup for the first time in 64 years, enters the knockout stage, where victory and defeat are decided. Since Korea has always struggled in the first round of the recent Asian Cup knockout stages, the bench's judgment, including smart game management and appropriate substitutions, is important. Even if you win in overtime, you can’t laugh out loud. The winner must be decided within 90 minutes.

If they advance to the quarterfinals, they will have to deal with Australia, who had two more days of rest than Korea, so astute movements from the bench will be needed.

The Korean national soccer team, led by coach Jurgen Klinsmann, will play Saudi Arabia in the round of 16 at the Education City Stadium in Al Rayyan, Qatar, at 1 a.m. on the 31st (Korean time).

Jung Woo-young and Park Jin-seop of the Korean national soccer team are substituted for Park Yong-woo and Lee Jae-seong in the match between Korea Republic and Bahrain in Group E of the 2023 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Qatar Asian Cup group stage held at Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium in Doha, Qatar on the 15th (local time).

There will be no draws from the round of 16 onwards. If a winner cannot be decided after 90 minutes, two halves of 15-minute overtime will be played. If a winner or loser is not decided in overtime, a penalty shootout is held to determine the winner and loser.

It doesn't normally consume energy. If you win by playing for more than 90 minutes, you may experience difficulties even if you advance to the next round due to the physical burden and fatigue caused by the previous match.

Korea Links to an external site., which has been pointed out as a favorite to win the Asian Cup every time, has struggled in the first round of the knockout stage and has rarely been able to connect with the top team.

Korea, which had won the first game of the knockout stage four times in a row from the 2007 Southeast Asian Games to the 2019 United Arab Emirates (UAE) tournament, bowed in the second game of the knockout stage all three times, except for the 2015 Australia tournament.

For Korea, which needs to play three more games to win this time, it must easily get through the first match against Saudi Arabia in the knockout stage.

Additionally, if Korea defeats Saudi Arabia and advances to the quarterfinals, it will have to clash with Australia, which passed the round of 16 two days earlier. After reaching the quarterfinals, Australian coach Graham Arnold also said, “The big thing is that we have two more days off,” and expressed hope that sufficient rest would be an advantage for them.

In order to reduce the variables of break time even a little, victory must be achieved within 90 minutes.

This requires quick and bold judgment from the bench. It is inevitable that tactical instructions and player replacement will be required to quickly respond to the opponent's tactics and target their weaknesses, and block our own shortcomings. In addition, players must be instructed to manage the game flexibly, such as controlling the tempo of the game.

Fortunately, Coach Klinsmann is making player changes one beat faster in this tournament. If it is determined that some players are not performing well, they are replaced immediately to reduce risk.

It is also encouraging that Hwang Hee-chan (Wolverhampton) and Kim Jin-su (Jeonbuk) quickly returned from injury and joined the team. Since both are resources that will play a big role in Korea's offense and defense, the range of replacement options for Klinsmann has expanded.

In addition, the fact that Klinsmann adjusted the team cycle to the knockout stage also raises expectations for the round of 16. After completing the group stage, veteran defender Kim Young-kwon (Ulsan) expressed confidence in the improvement in the team's condition, saying, "We have set the team's pace and cycle to win." 고스톱