“I hope we are 100 percent fit.”

The South Korea Under-24 Men’s National Team, coached by Hwang Sun-hong, will kick off the 19th Hangzhou Asian Games 2022 at 8:30 p.m. today against Kuwait in Group E at Jinhua Stadium in Zhejiang, China.

Head coach Hwang Sun-hong arrived in Hangzhou on Nov. 16 and has been training with the 21-man Taegeuk Warriors since then. Led by captain Baek Seung-ho (Jeonbuk Hyundai), the team includes wildcards Park Jin-seop (Jeonbuk) and Seol Young-woo (Ulsan Hyundai), as well as players such as Jung Woo-young (Stuttgart), Lee Han-beom (Wilt Miran), Uhm Won-sang (Ulsan), Jeong Ho-yeon (Gwangju FC) and Ko Young-joon (Pohang Steelers).온라인바카라

And this player joins the team a little late. This is Lee Kang-in (Paris Saint-Germain), the older brother of Kang-in that everyone is waiting for. Lee plans to join the team after the French club’s 2023-24 UEFA Champions League match against Dortmund on Sept. 19.

In fact, until the afternoon of Thursday, Lee’s arrival was not certain. There were concerns that if the negotiations between the KFA and PSG fell through, Korea would have to play the Asian Games with 21 players instead of 22.

Coach Hwang Sun-hong said at a press conference on the 14th, “I’m also frustrated. I am personally communicating with Lee Kang-in. He wants to join the team as soon as possible, but there seems to be no coordination with PSG on the timing.”

Since Lee hasn’t been at 100 percent recently and the tournament is not a mandatory national team call-up, PSG could have decided that it would be more damaging to let him go.

Fortunately, the agreement was amicable. “As a result of the discussions, it was agreed that Kang will join the Asian Games team after the home game against Dortmund,” the KFA said on the 15th. “Finally, we received an official response from PSG on the night of the 14th to allow Kang to join the Asian Games team on the 20th without any other preconditions.”

He will miss the first game against Kuwait and the second against Thailand, but could be a substitute for the third game against Bahrain if he is fit. Lee was sidelined for about a month with a left quadriceps injury in late August and missed the national team’s two September A matches. Lee Kang-in’s physical condition needs to be assessed.

On the 18th, Hwang Sun-hong, the head coach of Hangzhou, said, “He is expected to arrive after 6pm on the 21st. We have to continue to build with the players. We will check closely and make a good combination.”

Lee’s match against PSG and Dortmund will take place at dawn on the 20th. However, Hwang Sun-hong plans to give up his early morning sleep to watch what could be Lee’s comeback game.

“It would be great if he plays a lot of minutes in good form. I hope he is at 100 percent. I plan to watch the game.”

However, before Lee Kang-in joins the team, they need to win their first two matches to secure a spot in the round of 16 or gain an advantage in the round of 16.

“I think the first game is the most important,” said Hwang Sun-hong. “We want to win, we have to win, and we will win,” he said. If the players keep their composure rather than being in a hurry and under pressure, I believe they will win. Please give us a lot of support.”