Eom Ji-sung and Kim Min-ji explode with 'joint hat-tricks'... Korean football in crisis shoots golden hope in Nagoya [Nagoya AG]

[Financial News] Korean football, which has been in crisis, has begun a vigorous march to reclaim its lost honor by unleashing a thrilling storm of goals across the Japanese archipelago. The men's national team, aiming for an unprecedented record of four consecutive Asian Games titles, and the women's national team, challenging for their first-ever gold medal, both achieved landslide victories in their opening matches, signaling a clear green light toward a "double victory for both men and women."
The U-23 men's national football team, led by head coach Lee Min-sung, defeated Qatar 4-1 in their first match of Group D in the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games held at Mizuho Park Rugby Stadium in Nagoya, Japan on the 15th.
Korea, which reached the top of Asia for three consecutive times from the 2014 Incheon Games to the previous 2022 Hangzhou Games, has set the perfect first step toward achieving an unprecedented fourth consecutive victory.

The main contributor to the victory on this day was wildcard Eom Ji-sung (Swansea City Association Football Club (Swansea City)), who is currently active in England. Lee Min-sung's team deployed Kim Myung-jun (Genk) at the forefront and solidly formed the second line with European-based players such as Eom Ji-sung, Bae Jun-ho (Stoke City Football Club), and Yang Hyun-jun (Celtic Football Club). Just seven minutes into the match, Kim Ji-su (Brentford) delivered a precise long pass to Eom Ji-sung, who made a brilliant run into space and scored the opening goal with a left-footed shot, seizing the initiative early on.
With his momentum building, Eom Ji-sung calmly scored an additional goal in the 20th minute of the first half, capitalizing on a defensive error by the opposing team. In added time of the first half, he received a pass from Lee Seung-won (Gangwon FC) and completed a hat-trick, making the first half his own stage. Korea sealed the victory in the 21st minute of the second half with a decisive goal from Kim Myung-jun, assisted by a sharp pass from Yang Hyun-jun. However, the only blemish was conceding a goal to Mirwan Hassan in the 40th minute of the second half, while leading 4-0, due to a momentary lapse in concentration during a free-kick defense.

This tournament is the first international competition held since the devastating group stage elimination at the CONCACAF World Cup last summer and the ensuing fierce fallout. At the post-match press conference, Coach Lee expressed his grim determination, stating, "I made a firm resolution with the players to create an opportunity to revive the stagnant atmosphere of Korean football," and added, "The final goal conceded will serve as a good opportunity to refocus the players' concentration in order to advance to a higher level. We will continue to win and regain the love of the fans."
Ahead of the men's national team's victory, the women's national soccer team led by head coach Shin Sang-woo also put on a spectacular display of firepower. In the first match of Group F held at Yanmar Stadium Nagai on the 14th, they carpet-bombed Myanmar, coached by Colin Bell—who had previously led the Korean national team for four years and eight months—with a 5-0 victory.

In this match, the outstanding performance of 2003-born midfielder Kim Min-ji (Seoul City Hall) was the absolute highlight. Kim Min-ji scored the opening goal in the 29th minute of the first half with a skillful body feint, followed by an additional goal with a high-scoring header in the 33rd minute, and completed a hat-trick by finishing a cutback in the 14th minute of the second half. Veteran Jang Sel-gi (KHNP FC) perfectly orchestrated both offense and defense with one goal and two assists, while Choe Yu-ri (Suwon FC Women) scored a thrilling clinching goal in the 31st minute of the second half. Notably, despite the misfortune of Ji So-yun and Choe Yu-ri each missing a penalty kick once, they poured out a whopping five goals, clearly demonstrating the difference in strength as a top-tier team in Asia.

It is an encouraging achievement that both the men's and women's national soccer teams displayed overwhelming firepower from their very first matches, producing players who scored hat-tricks. Having warmed up with resounding victories, Korean soccer now sets its sights on higher heights. The men's team, now complete with the addition of Lee Young-jun (Grasshopper Club Zürich), whose arrival had been delayed, will play their final Group D match against Saudi Arabia on the 22nd. The women's team will play Bangladesh on the 17th before facing North Korea in a fateful inter-Korean showdown on the 21st. Under the autumn skies of Japan, the Taegeuk Warriors' unstoppable golden charge to save Korean soccer from crisis has officially begun.
[email protected] Jeon Sang-il Reporter