Eom Ji-sung Scores Hat Trick in First Half to Lead South Korea to 4-1 Victory in Smooth Start

[Anchor]

Our men's national football team, aiming for an unprecedented fourth consecutive gold medal at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, has made a smooth start. In their opening group stage match that just concluded, they secured a dominant 4-1 victory against Qatar. Eom Ji-sung, who joined the squad as a wildcard, led the team to victory by scoring a hat trick.

Reporter Ha Seong-nyong has the details.

[Reporter]

Amidst a hiccup where the buses carrying the South Korean and Qatari delegations headed to a baseball stadium due to a driver's mistake and arrived at the venue 30 minutes later than scheduled, the national team had to hurriedly warm up before taking on Qatar.

With European-based players Eom Ji-sung, Bae Jun-ho, and Yang Hyun-jun—who all competed in the North and Central America World Cup—stepping up as second-line attackers to target Qatar, Eom Ji-sung, wearing the ace's symbolic number 7 jersey, put on a one-man show.

In the 7th minute of the first half, when European-based defender Kim Ji-soo delivered a long pass, Eom Ji-sung exploited the space behind the defense with incredible speed and scored the opening goal with a sharp left-footed shot. Then, in the 20th minute of the first half, after intercepting an opponent's pass, he found the corner of the net with a right-footed shot to secure a multi-goal match, sharing the joy with his teammates.

Eom Ji-sung's surge did not stop there.

During stoppage time in the first half, he calmly shook off a defender inside the penalty box and opened the net once more to complete a first-half hat trick.

Backed by Eom Ji-sung's stellar performance, the national team finished the first half with a 3-0 lead and continued their offensive pressure in the second half. In the 21st minute, forward Kim Myung-jun, who plays in Belgium, neatly finished a cross from Yang Hyun-jun to seal the match.

Although the national team's defense wavered near the end of the second half, conceding one goal, they cruised to an easy victory with a three-goal margin.

Head Coach Lee Min-sung's squad, which had previously faced criticism for sluggish performances leading up to the Asian Games, bounced back with a fiery victory in their very first match, making a powerful start toward their quest for four consecutive titles.

Placed in Group D, the only group among the four groups consisting of three countries, the national team will play their second match against Saudi Arabia on September 22.

(Video by: Yang Doo-won, Video Editing by: Ha Seong-won)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.