The Korean media had the rare experience of interviewing a national team player behind bars.
At around 6:30 p.m. on the 29th, flanker Hwang Jae-won (Daegu) walked briskly to the gathering of reporters after training at the Huanglong Sports Center Stadium Auxiliary Field in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China, the venue for the Korea-China match.
Initially, the interview was scheduled for 5 p.m. on the training field before training. However, the Hangzhou Asian Games organizers barred the reporters from entering, saying, “No media activities are allowed here. A member of the Korean Football Association’s (KFA) public relations team tried to explain the situation, but they said that according to the rules, unless you are part of the team involved in the training, you are not allowed to enter the training ground. I watched Hwang Sun-hong train from outside the cage, let alone interview him. The Football Association also faced the same problem in Jinhua, where three group games and the round of 16 were played. Continued communication resolved the issue, but it was repeated after the team arrived in Hangzhou for the tournament after the quarterfinals.
The interview was difficult. “It’s China’s home ground, and we know they’re not an easy team,” Hwang said from behind bars. I think we can win if we prepare the way we have been preparing rather than doing anything special. We will play our game,” he said before the match.토토사이트
South Korea played China twice in June in Hangzhou, China, and split the two friendlies. At the time, Uhm Won-sang and Ko Young-joon were injured by the Chinese players’ rough play. As a result, there is a lot of concern that China will be rougher ahead of the Asian Games quarterfinals on Oct. 1. Hwang Jae-won said, “Football is rough. We don’t play softly,” Hwang said, emphasizing that “the ‘chayo’ (fighting) may be annoying, but we have to overcome it.” The Korea-China match will be held on March 1 at 8 p.m.
Hwang Jae-won has been playing as the starting right back in this tournament. He has a lot of trust in coach Hwang Sun-hong. “I was aggressive in the qualifiers and defensive in the round of 16 to prepare for counterattacks. We will try to show more offense,” he said.
After a short interview, the press turned away without even setting foot on the training field. This is Hangzhou, home of the world’s second-largest sporting event after the Olympics.