Chasing 4th Straight Gold, Men's Football Team Faces Japan in Final Today... Scalped Tickets Surface

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The men's national football team, aiming for its fourth consecutive gold medal, will face Japan in the final this evening (October 3). Interest is so high that even illegal tickets with steep markups have appeared, but due to poor organization by the Japanese side, our national team was unable to even conduct a proper official training session.

Ha Seong-nyong reports from the local site.

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Lee Min-sung's squad undergoes its final training at a poor facility where the turf is torn up in places and the lighting is dim.

The organizing committee unilaterally canceled the stadium's official training session the day before the match due to turf issues at Toyota Stadium, where the final will be held. Although the team requested a change because the alternative training ground also had bad turf, the request was rejected.

Unlike the Japanese national team, which has played four matches at Toyota Stadium where the final takes place, we face a disadvantage in adapting to the pitch as we have neither played a match nor held an official training session there.

The national team, which had already broken into a cold sweat over bus dispatch issues during the group stage, now seems accustomed to the sloppy tournament operations.

[Lee Min-sung / Head Coach, Asian Games Men's National Football Team: Problems have arisen since the start of the tournament, but since that is something we need to overcome and step over, we aren't bothered by it, and we will do our best to win the gold medal we are aiming for.]

Having defeated Japan in the previous two finals to achieve a three-peat, South Korean football is burning with fighting spirit toward a fourth consecutive gold medal.

Led by joint top scorers Um Ji-sung, Kim Myung-jun, and Lee Young-jun, and boasting a formidable firepower of averaging 3 goals per game, the team is determined to break through the iron-clad defense of Japan, which has conceded only one goal in five matches despite fielding an under-21 team.

[Lee Ki-hyuk / Captain, Asian Games Men's National Football Team: If I first show how desperate I am on the pitch, I think all the players will follow well, so I am trying to make a strong mental commitment and prepare well.]

Despite the disastrous box office slump with overall ticket sales falling short of 50%, interest in today's match is intense.

All 45,000 seats are sold out, and tickets are being traded on resale sites at prices exceeding 3.5 times the face value, drawing attention as the biggest blockbuster match of this tournament.

(Photo: Yang Doo-won | Video Editing: Lee Hong-myung | Design: Cho Soo-in)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.