Now it’s time for coach Hwang Sun-hong to figure out how to integrate Lee Kang-in into the team.
The Korea Football Association (KFA) announced on Friday, “As a result of discussions with Lee Kang-in’s club PSG, it was finally agreed on Thursday night (July 14) that Lee Kang-in will join the Asian Games squad after the club’s UEFA Champions League (UCL) home match against Dortmund on July 19. Accordingly, Lee will travel to Hangzhou, China, to join the Asian Games team on the 20th local time in France,” the KFA officially announced.
The KFA continued, “After receiving an email from PSG on the 13th to allow Lee to participate in the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games, subject to the rescheduling of the 2023 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup, we held discussions with PSG until late on the night of the 14th. Finally, on the night of the 14th, we received an official response from PSG stating that they will allow us to join the team for the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games on the 20th without any other preconditions,” he said, explaining the background of the discussions with PSG.
In fact, until the afternoon of the 14th, Lee’s participation in the Asian Games was very uncertain. Hwang Sun-hong, the head coach of the Asian Games team, had said that PSG would respond on the 13th local time about whether Lee Kang-in would join the Asian Games squad or not.
KFA also said, “Lee Kang-in will be in Paju tomorrow (Nov. 14) and coach Hwang will mention any updates in the meantime. PSG said they will tell him on the 13th whether he will join or not. We haven’t heard anything from the association yet.”
However, when Hwang was interviewed at the Paju NFC on Thursday, he was not happy. He said, “It’s frustrating. I am personally communicating with Lee Kang-in. Lee Kang-in wants to join as soon as possible. But the timing with PSG is not coordinated. The federation is in close communication with PSG. I hope the timing will be decided soon so that he can focus on the team,” he said, adding that there is still no agreement on whether and when Lee will be called up.
Hwang added, “I haven’t received an official answer yet on when he will join the team. I’m frustrated about that. We decided to contact him on the 13th to see if he’s fully recovered from his injury, but so far, there’s no official answer.” 카지노사이트
The situation could completely derail Hwang’s plans to organize the attack around Lee Kang-in and aim for a third consecutive Asian Games gold medal. “I’d like him to come in one or two games before the group stage, but I don’t think that’s possible. I think PSG are putting a lot of conditions on it. I hope we can agree on that and he can join us soon,” he said, adding that he was looking forward to having Lee join the team as soon as possible.
It must have been frustrating for Hwang Sun-hong, too, because the longer Lee Kang-in waited to join the team, the more problems he would have with his teammates and the organization of the team.