[Anchor]

The Nagoya Asian Games men's football national team will play their first match against Qatar this evening (the 15th). SBS will broadcast it live starting at 7 p.m.

Hong Seok-jun reports from Nagoya.

[Reporter]

After defeating North Korea in the final of the 2014 Incheon Games to reclaim the top spot for the first time in 28 years, South Korean football built a milestone of three consecutive titles by successively defeating Japan to win gold medals at the 2018 Jakarta Games—which featured key senior national team players such as Son Heung-min, Hwang Hee-chan, and Kim Min-jae—and three years ago in Hangzhou.

To continue this glorious legacy at the Asian Games, the Lee Min-sung squad, which has been adapting to the local environment since the 6th, has issued a resolute declaration of commitment to achieve a fourth consecutive victory in order to revive South Korean football, which has plummeted to rock bottom following its dismal failure at the North and Central America World Cup.

[Lee Min-sung / Head Coach, Asian Games Men's Football National Team: We will work hard so that Korean football can rise again by decorating (the Asian Games) with a gold medal, and we will do our absolute best to win the gold medal.]

Although a negative factor has emerged with starting forward Lee Young-jun, who plays in Switzerland, delayed in joining the team due to his club's opposition and unable to play in today's opening match against Qatar, captain Lee Gi-hyuk, who shined at the North and Central America World Cup, is expected to step up as a defensive midfielder to secure the midfield, while European-based second-line players such as Bae Jun-ho, Um Ji-sung, and Yang Hyun-jun are projected to lead the attack.

[Lee Gi-hyuk / Captain, Asian Games Men's Football National Team: I delivered the message that a desperate yearning must be the top priority for the players, and I think my role is to keep the team well-anchored.]

The journey of the Asian Games national team to find hope for South Korean football begins tonight.

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Led by Kim Min-ji, who scored a hat trick, the women's football national team achieved a 5–0 shutout victory in their first match against Myanmar, led by former head coach Colin Bell, while 'championship favorite' North Korea, which faces us in a showdown on the 21st, overwhelmingly crushed Bangladesh 10–0.

(Video Journalist: Yang Doo-won, Video Editor: Hwang Ji-young, Design: Park Taeyoung)