‘Korea’s first Olympics exit in 40 years’ rival Japan even more surprised, ‘Shocking ending → criticism pouring in’
No South Korean soccer at the Paris Olympics. 바카라사이트 Japan is more surprised.
On the 27th, Japanese soccer publication Soccer Digest reported, “Powerhouses such as South Korea, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Australia lost in succession in the final Asian qualifiers for the Paris Olympics. The Asian landscape is shifting by the minute. It’s the first time in 40 years since the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics that South Korea has failed to qualify for the Olympics,” the publication reported.
Hwang Sun-hong’s South Korea U-23 team bowed their heads after penalty kicks in the quarterfinals of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-23 Asian Cup and the Asian Final Qualifier for the 2024 Paris Olympics at the Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium in Doha, Qatar on Saturday at 2:30 a.m. ET. The two teams were tied 2-2 in extra time. South Korea lost 10-11 on penalties.
With the loss, South Korea failed to qualify for Paris. The first through third place finishers in the tournament will qualify directly for the Paris Games. The fourth-place finisher will face an intercontinental playoff against an African team to determine their final fate. South Korea’s Olympic dreams came to an end in the quarterfinals. South Korea was looking to become the first country in the world to qualify for 10 consecutive Olympic Games, but failed to make it past the quarterfinals.
SoccerDigest wrote, “It’s been 40 years since South Korea missed the 1984 Olympics. Its streak of consecutive appearances stopped at nine. The shocking ending has led to sharp criticism of the team and the Korean Football Association in South Korea. The outlet added: “Iran didn’t even make it to the tournament. Australia was eliminated in the group stage. Saudi Arabia also lost in the quarterfinals to South Korea. In Asia, countries that were considered middle-ranked and up-and-coming are seeing the fruits of their efforts to develop age-group teams.
Meanwhile, the quarterfinal matches were Japan-Iraq and Indonesia-Uzbekistan. As SoccerDigest notes, “The usual suspects have been forced into early exits. It will be interesting to see if Japan can qualify for an eighth consecutive Olympics.