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24 janvier 2020

South Korea of Oh Se-Hun secure Olympic spot… as always !

Thanks to a perfect run so far in the Asian Championship U23 (AFC U23), South Koreans sealed their ninth qualification in a row for the Olympic Games. The Taegeuk Warriors have notably relied on the striker Oh Se-Hun, seen at the Maurice Revello Tournament 2018, to claim their ticket for Tokyo !

Since 1992 and the introduction of the new format for the Olympic football tournament, reserved for U23 national teams only, South Korea have never missed this competition.

This streak will continue on 2020 as South Koreans secured a spot for the Tokyo Olympics thanks to their performance at the Asian Championship U23, currently held in Thailand.

The Asian Championship U23 offers three automatic spots for the Olympic Games 2020 : one for each finalist and another one for the third-place playoff’s winner. And not forgetting the spot already offered to Japan as the Olympic Games’ country host.

South Koreans secured their Olympic spot by reaching the AFC U23 final this week as they have beaten Australia (2-0) in the semi-finals. Before that, the Taegeuk Warriors defeated China (1-0), Iran (2-1), Uzbekistan (2-1) in the group stage and then Jordan (2-1) in the quarter-finals.

Oh Se-Hun played a key role in this fantastic run. The 21-year-old striker, seen at the Maurice Revello Tournament 2018, is the only field player to have played all the games of his national team in the AFC U23. The 1m93 striker has repaid his coach’s faith by scoring a brace against Uzbekistan.

In final, South Korea will face Saudi Arabia on Sunday. This fixture is already historic as both nations never won this tournament so far. South Koreans hope that their consistency in the final four over the last editions (semi-finalists on 2013, 2018 and finalists on 2016) will be eventually rewarded this year.

Amayes Brahmi

Crédits photo : Mimint