South Korea shocks U20 World Cup again

Argentina Seok-Hyun Choi's extra-time goal helped South Korea beat Nigeria 1-0 to reach the semi-finals of the 2023 U20 World Cup.

South Korea made a splash when they defeated France 2-1 in their opening match of the group stage. Yesterday, coach Kim Eunjung and her team once again created an earthquake against a much stronger opponent.

Despite only controlling the ball 32% of the time and making four shots compared to the opponent's 22, the Asian team's defensive counter-attacking style was effective. In the 5th minute of the first extra time, in a corner kick, defender Choi Seok Hyun headed into the Nigerian net, scoring the only goal of the match.

Choi Seok Hyun celebrates after scoring the winning goal for South Korea. Photo: Reuters

The efforts in the remaining time could not help Nigeria turn the situation around as Korea also tried their best to protect their goal. Choi Seok Hyun once again became the hero of the home team. In the round of 16, he also scored the decisive goal for Korea in the 3-2 win over Ecuador.

Since the start of the tournament, South Korea have played five matches, won three, drawn two and have not lost a single match. They will meet Italy in the semi-finals. This is a tough challenge for the East Asian team because Italy is playing well, inspired by Chelsea midfielder Cesare Casadei. A factor that can help South Korea's confidence is that Italy lost 0-2 to Nigeria in the group stage.

The remaining semi-final of the 2023 U20 World Cup will be a match between Israel and Uruguay. Uruguay had no trouble defeating the United States 2-0 in the quarter-finals while Israel created the biggest shock of the tournament when they defeated Brazil 3-2 after 120 minutes of the quarter-finals. Before that, Ofir Haim's team defeated Japan and Ecuador to finish second in Group C and then defeated Uzbekistan in the round of 16.

The two semi-finals of the 2023 U20 World Cup will take place on the afternoon of June 8. The final will be held on June 11 at Unico Diego Armando Maradona Stadium in La Plata, Buenos Aires.

Vinh San

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