Hwang Sun-hong, who is preparing for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, has traveled to Tunisia for a training camp in preparation for the final qualifying round.
"We will return with a good result in April to lay the foundation for qualifying," Hwang told reporters at Incheon International Airport on Wednesday.
The team is scheduled to arrive in Antalya on Thursday and will train for the 2024 Asian Under-23 Championship until Feb. 3.
The team will need to finish third or better at the tournament to punch their ticket to the Olympics. If they finish fourth, they will have to fight for the remaining 0.5 tickets in a playoff with the African continent.
South Korea was drawn into Group B alongside Japan, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and China in the draw for the U-23 Asian Cup last November. Japan, in particular, will be on high alert as most of the team that met in the final of the Hangzhou Asian Games will be available for the tournament.
"Japan is an opponent we can meet in the group stage and in the final," Hwang said, emphasizing that "it's important to get a good start, but the end goal (of qualifying for the Olympic Games) is important, so we'll try to get a good result." "Japan is still checking things out. The UAE is more or less ready. China is a little bit difficult because they don't have a lot of call-ups, but we're keeping a close eye on them."
This tournament is in the middle of Europe's season, so it's not easy to bring in foreign players. In fact, the players who are participating in this training camp will have to compete for tickets.
"There is a very high probability that the athletes who participate in this training camp will stay," Hwang said.
If the team does qualify, it will make history by qualifying for the Olympic Games for the 10th time in a row.
"The first goal is to have a cohesive offense," Hwang said, adding, "Japan, Uzbekistan, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar are all teams we could meet in the tournament, so we're paying close attention." "If you look at the last games that Kim Hak-bum coached, most of them were one-goal games. We shouldn't relax either," he emphasized.
Hwang is hoping to get something out of the team's exhibition games. The team has five practice matches against European clubs in Poland, Uzbekistan, and Hungary, including FC Pakel of the Russian Premier League.
"It's a sign to develop 'tolerance' by experiencing soccer in different countries," Hwang said, adding, "I think it will be a good training for us to meet challenging opponents."
Meanwhile, the national team has called up a total of 27 athletes for the training camp. Thirteen players, including Ko Young-joon (Pohang), who helped the team win gold at the 토토 Hangzhou Asian Games, will travel to Turkuye from Incheon Airport, while the remaining 14 players will travel to Turkuye from their team's training grounds. Jeon Byung-kwan (Jeonbuk) has been added to the squad as a replacement for Oh Jae-hyuk (Seongnam) due to injury.