After the defeat to U23 Vietnam in the 3rd place match of the 2026 AFC U23 Championship finals, U23 Korea head coach Lee Min-sung frankly pointed out the limitations of his team, especially the ability to control psychology in decisive moments.
In the confrontation taking place in the early morning of January 24, U23 Korea was held to a 2-2 draw by U23 Vietnam after 120 minutes of play, despite equalizing in the 90+7 minute and playing with more players in both extra periods. In the penalty shootout, the kimchi team lost 6-7, thereby seeing U23 Vietnam win 3rd place overall.
Speaking after the match, coach Lee Min-sung said that his students did not take advantage of the numerical advantage. "U23 Korea should have played calmer in extra time, but we couldn't do it, even though we have the advantage of playing with more men," Mr. Lee Min-sung shared.
According to the Korean coach, impatience and many mistakes in handling made U23 Korea unable to penetrate the U23 Vietnam defense, despite controlling the game and creating great pressure in the final minutes of the match.
The defeat to U23 Vietnam caused U23 Korea to close the tournament without winning a medal. Previously, this team stopped in the semi-finals after losing 0-1 to U23 Japan, the performance was assessed by domestic media as lacking sharpness and not meeting expectations.
Overall assessment of the team, coach Lee Min-sung admitted that U23 Korea still has many points to improve. "U23 Korea still lacks a lot. The whole team must improve further. Currently, the players can only reach this level," he said.
However, this coach also emphasized: "U23 Korea can still be better and needs to be more complete. Don't think this is the ultimate limit of the whole team.
According to statistics, this is the second time in 8 years that U23 Korea has failed in the third-place play-off for the AFC U23 Championship, after losing 0-1 to U23 Qatar at the 2018 tournament.
Coach Lee Min-sung's post-match press conference took place briefly with just three questions. After U23 South Korea left the tournament empty-handed, the future of the Korean coach is receiving much attention from public opinion and the country's media.
