‘Shooting Monster’ Cho Young-wook (Gimcheon Commerce), who has played a whopping 78 matches for the national team at age group level, has announced that the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games will be his last at age group level, urging Lee Kang-man, whose place in the national team is uncertain, to join him as soon as possible.
Cho, who joined Gimcheon Commerce from FC Seoul to serve in the military, plans to take early retirement by winning the Asian Games. Born in 1999, Cho is no longer eligible to play for his age group unless he is selected as a wild card, and he is determined to make this his last age group competition and win a gold medal.
Cho’s first call-up to the national team came in 2013, when he was named to the U-14 team and competed at the 2013 Nanjing Asian Youth Games. He played in all six games of the tournament, scoring three goals to help his team win the title, and graduated from the U-14 team.
After showing promise as a youth player, Cho was called up to the U-20 team ahead of the 2016 Suwon JS Cup at the age of 19. After successfully establishing himself with the U-20 team with a goal against Korea in the third round of the tournament, Cho made 46 appearances for the U-20 team, including the 2016 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-19 Championship and the 2017 and 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cups.
He has also made 26 appearances for the U-23 national team and has scored 35 goals in 78 caps for his age group. He scored three goals and provided one assist at the 2022 AFC U-23 Asian Cup last year and is preparing for his final tournament with Hwang Sun-hong’s Hangzhou Asian Games squad.
Hwang has been training in Changwon, Gyeongnam, before moving to the National Football Training Center (NFC) in Paju, Gyeonggi-do, on the 13th to put in his last effort before the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games. After three days of training on the 15th, the team will depart for Hangzhou via Incheon International Airport on the 16th.
On the 19th, they will play their first group game at 8:30pm at the Jinhua Stadium in China against the Middle Eastern nation of Kuwait, followed by their second group game against Southeast Asian nation of Thailand on the 21st at the same time. They will play their final game on the 24th against Bahrain in the Middle East at the same time. The national team will attempt to win its third consecutive gold medal after winning the 2014 Incheon Games and the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Games.
Cho Young-wook met with reporters at Paju NFC on the 14th and said, “This is my last tournament. “We lost two consecutive games in the previous tournaments, so we must continue that record,” he said, vowing to return with a gold medal.
“I told Lee Kang-in, who is still undecided about joining the team, to come as soon as possible,” he added.
Here is the full interview with Young Wook Cho.
-How is your training going?
“We’re training for the Asian Games, and we’re focusing a little bit more on the game because we’re training before we leave. The players are feeling good and preparing well.”
-There’s been a lot of talk about your offense being the lightest in the history of the Asian Games.
“I think the players are aware of that. That’s why we’re going to play as a team, as a unit, attacking together, defending together, and that’s what we’re going to do, and that’s what we’re preparing for.”
-You’ve been playing so well for your own team. You’ve also played for the age-group national team and have a lot of good memories, but are you looking forward to it?
“I think I have a good pace with the team. I’m feeling pretty confident right now. I’ve played a lot of age-group national teams, and this is my last tournament, so I want to go out on a high note.”
-Lee Kang-in’s arrival will be delayed. Will your training regimen and role change with or without Lee Kang-in?
“It’s definitely true that there’s a big void. But I don’t think about it too much. When he comes in, we’ll play a little bit more to suit him, and there will be moves and plays from his teammates that he can do better. For now, as I said earlier, we are concerned about moving as a team, and coach Hwang Sun-hong continues to emphasize that.”카지노
-You are one of the closest players on the national team to Lee Kang-in. Have you had any private conversations with him?
“I kept asking him when he was coming. Kang-in also calls me and asks, ‘How’s the team atmosphere,’ and ‘How are things going?’ I just keep telling him to come as soon as possible. He said, ‘I’ll come as soon as I can.'”
-On his personal goals for the tournament.
“Obviously, as a striker, I’m thinking about scoring first. I’m not trying to set a big goal from the start. My personal goal is about three goals.”
-You’ve worked with coach Hwang Sun-hong before, did he have any special requests for you?
“He always asks for a lot of things, not only for me but for the strikers as well, like how to move as fast as possible to get into a position to score. He wants you to think for yourself, to find your own way. I think because he’s a striker, he asks for a little bit more aggressive play and a little bit more aggressive positions.”
-Now that I’m in the military, I think I’m more eager for this tournament. How is your mindset?
“I don’t think it’s because I’m in the military, but I think we have to go for the win first. We’ve won the last two tournaments in a row, so I think it’s only right that we continue that streak.”