[Asian Games] North Korean Soccer Coach: “We Have to Win on the Field... Even if we Play Against South Korea”

In the return match to the international stage, Taiwan was defeated 2-0... “Maintaining potential and capabilities domestically”

Shin Yong-nam, coach of the North Korean national soccer team, was not excited even after leading North Korea to victory in its return to international competition.

After beating Chinese Taipei 2-0 in the first match of Group F of the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games men's soccer preliminaries held at Zhejiang Normal University East Stadium in Jinhua, Zhejiang Province, China on the 19th, coach Shin Yong-nam visited the press conference room and said in a low, heavy voice, "We prove it with the results." 온라인카지노

“Future results will prove (our ability),” he said.

In response to a question about the match against Korea, which we can meet if we pass the preliminaries, he said, “Winning on the field is a winner,” and “If there is an opportunity (to face Korea),” he said.

“I will definitely win,” he answered calmly.

North Korea unilaterally boycotted the 2021 Tokyo Olympics due to the novel coronavirus infection (Corona 19) and was suspended by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and the disciplinary action was lifted on December 31 last year.

North Korea, which has gradually appeared in international competitions in each sport this year, dispatched close to 200 athletes to the Hangzhou Asian Games.

According to MyInfo, the official information site of the Hangzhou Asian Games Organizing Committee, North Korea registered a total of 191 athletes, including 112 women and 79 men, in 18 sports.

It has been five years since the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta and Palembang that North Korea dispatched athletes to international multi-sport competitions such as the Olympics and Asian Games.

The North Korean national soccer team appeared on the international stage for the first time in about three years and eight months since the Asian Football Confederation Under-23 Tournament in January 2020.

Since it was a match against Chinese Taipei, ranked 153rd in the FIFA rankings, it is still too early to evaluate their strength, but North Korea (115th) dominated their opponents throughout the game.

Coach Shin Yong-nam said, "Although we have not been able to participate in international competitions for about 4 years (actually 3 years and 8 months), we maintained our team's potential and ability through good training in Korea and games between (domestic) teams."

He praised Lee Jo-guk and Kim Kook-jin, who scored that day, saying, “They did a good job as the team wanted.”

Coach Shin did not reveal his specific goals for this competition.

However, I was full of confidence.

Coach Shin said, "I am happy that our players played well in the first game.

We were able to win because the players came together and acted as the coach intended," adding, "Because the competition is still in progress, we cannot define our strengths." “

Everything is proven by the results,” he said.

North Korea will face Kyrgyzstan on the 21st and Indonesia on the 24th.

Coach Shin pledged, "We trained a lot for this tournament.

We will do our best to win the next game as well."

On this day, four female North Korean cheerleaders cheered the players loudly throughout the game.

Coach Shin Yong-nam expressed gratitude, saying, “Thanks to the support of the workers (cheering team), the players were able to demonstrate their strength on the field.”

Unlike Coach Shin, who calmly held a press conference, the North Korean players did not respond to the interview and passed by the joint reporting area.

When asked by Korean reporters how they felt about the victory, only one player said, “It was good.”

A North Korean national team official briefly responded to the congratulatory message by saying, “Thank you.”