Hello friends, today is the first day of 2024, first of all, I wish you all a happy New Year's Day, and thank you for your long-term support for the Hanzu Evening News column. In 2024, the Korean Football Evening News will continue to meet you every night. Well, let's take a look at today's "Hanzu Evening News" focus news, which is as follows:
1. In the first trip to Europe in the new year, Li Min'e joined Betis Women's Football Team
2. From the Asian Cup to the Olympic Games, South Korean football will be busy in 2024
3. Hwang Hee-chan assisted, Son Heung-min scored, and the 2023 European Overseas Party ended successfully
Let's take a look at the details of each news
On the first day of 2024, South Korean fans received good news. South Korea's women's midfielder Lee Min-e has received an invitation from La Liga Women's Real Betis to travel to Spain for a medical check-up. If the final signing is made, Lee will become the third South Korean women's international to land on the Spanish stage after Jang Seqi and Lee Yong-joo. Although Lee missed many tournaments last season due to injury, she still helped the Incheon women's football team achieve good results in the Asian Club Cup and league. At present, Lee Min-e has played 79 games for the national team and scored 17 goals, and due to the elimination of the Olympic preliminaries, the South Korean women's football team will basically have no major tournament in 2024, which also provides convenience for her to travel to Europe. Good luck in Spain!
2024 is a big year for Korean football. This year, the first thing the South Korean men's football team has to face is the Qatar Asian Cup. The Korean men's football team, which brings together the strongest elite group of returnees in history, is aiming to lift the long-awaited championship trophy in Qatar, and for the Korean Football Association, they are very much looking forward to realizing the dream of this tournament after 64 years. Since German coach Jurgen Klinsmann came to power, the combination of the Korean men's football team has changed from "domestic league players" to "European legion".
After the Asian Cup, the next focus of South Korean football is the U23 Asian Cup, which was also held in Qatar, because the U23 Asian Cup was held in the same year as the Paris Olympics, so the preparation period and preparation time of South Korean Olympic team coach Hwang Sunhong are very short. According to the original plan, Huang Shanhong will lead the team to Turkey in mid-January for about three weeks to prepare, contrary to Coach Klinsmann's thinking, Huang Shanhong does not trust the players in Europe, but builds the team more with young players who have performed well in the local league. If they finish in the top three of the U23 Asian Cup, the South Korean Olympic team will set a new record in world football - reaching the main draw of the Olympic Games for the tenth time in a row. If all goes well, the South Korean men's football team will fight for a medal at the Paris Olympics in July
On the evening of December 31, 2023 local time in the UK, Tottenham Hotspur defeated Bournemouth 3-1 at home. The 2023 European Overseas Contest has come to a successful conclusion!In the 20th round, Hwang Hee-chan provided his third assist, followed by Son Heung-min's 12th goal of the season and his 27th goal in all competitions in 2023. With such outstanding results, Hwang Hee-chan and Son Heung-min will board the plane to Abu Dhabi this afternoon to join the national team and prepare for the Asian Cup in Qatar.
At this point, the 2023 year for Korean players is all over, and we only count the 2023-24 European first and second leagues, with a total of 25 Korean players registered, including 19 in the first division and 6 in the second division. Except for Kim Ji-suk, Lee Eung-chan and Hwang In-taek in the U23 team, Kwon Hyuk-kyu did not get a single minute of play, and the remaining 21 players all played in the first half of the 2023-24 season. Son Heung-min and Hwang Hee-chan are only one goal difference and almost lead the scorer list of the entire European legion. There will be 12 players in the current group of players who will participate in the upcoming Asian Cup in Qatar, and I wish them a dream come true, and I hope that more Korean players will join the list in the new season and get more opportunities to perform.
Attached: List of South Korean players in Europe in the 2023-24 season (first half).
(Editor in charge: Korean Football Research Association).
The copyright of the above news belongs to the "Korean Football Research Association".