"Win in First Match" Men's Hockey Coach Min Tae-seok: "Advancing to Semifinals with 4 Wins, 1 Draw"

Following a 5-0 shutout victory against Bangladesh in their opening Group A match at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, South Korea men's national hockey team head coach Min Tae-seok expressed his determination to reach the semifinals by securing at least four wins and one draw.

After securing the team's first win of the tournament against Bangladesh at the Gifu Prefectural Kakamigahara Green Stadium in Japan today (September 18), Coach Min evaluated, "Facing a dark horse in Bangladesh, we focused on defense and approached the game cautiously in the first quarter. In the second quarter, we pushed our forward line up, and the players, having adapted to the pitch, actively scored to secure the win."

South Korea scored three goals in the second quarter, followed by one goal each in the third and fourth quarters.

South Korea, which won the bronze medal at the previous Hangzhou Asian Games, will face Indonesia on September 22, powerhouse India on September 24, Sri Lanka on September 26, and host nation Japan on September 28 in succession to vie for a spot in the semifinals.

Explaining his operational strategy, Coach Min said, "Considering Indonesia and Sri Lanka as opponents weaker than us, we anticipate securing three wins including today's victory, making the matches against India and Japan crucial. We plan to approach the game against India with a strategy aimed at a draw, and we will definitely defeat Japan, where a close match is expected, to advance to the semifinals with a record of 4 wins and 1 draw, or 4 wins and 1 loss."

During today's match, South Korean players had to start the game without even singing the national anthem.

This happened because the tournament organizing committee mistakenly played the national anthem of an unrelated country instead of South Korea or Bangladesh, and realized the mistake only afterward.

Pressured by the match schedule, the referee ultimately played only Bangladesh's national anthem and skipped South Korea's national protocol.

While the anthem was supposed to be played, players from both South Korea and Bangladesh were shaking hands to pledge a fair match prior to the kickoff in accordance with the referee's instructions.

Expressing bewilderment, Coach Min remarked, "How on earth could something like this happen at an international competition..."

He also pointed out, "Normally, team transportation vehicles at international events operate according to the participating nations' schedules, but today they coercively explained the vehicle dispatch schedule and dropped us off at the stadium two hours before kickoff. While hotel accommodations are somewhat acceptable, aspects like the transportation schedule are quite chaotic."

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.