[Anchor]

The South Korean men's football team, chasing its fourth consecutive gold medal, is set for a fateful clash against Japan tomorrow (October 3). Former national team stars who previously captured gold have launched a relay of cheering messages for the squad.

Reporter Pyeon Gwanghyeon has the details.

[Reporter]

During the semifinal match against China, right as the first half ended 1-1 after Lee Young-jun connected with a sharp corner kick from Um Ji-sung to score a towering header.

Captain Son Heung-min, preparing for the upcoming friendly against Venezuela in Ulsan, couldn't take his eyes off the screen showing his juniors in action.

[Son Heung-min/National Football Team Captain: It's such a relief they scored right before the end of the first half. Our [Um] Ji-sung needs to win that gold medal....]

Even after sweating through a rigorous training session, he immediately checked the Asian Games results first.

[Hwang In-beom/National Football Team Midfielder: What's the score? (It's 2-1.)]

A cheering relay from senior players who previously claimed three straight gold medals unfolded.

Starting with Lee Jae-sung, a key figure in the 2014 Incheon Asian Games victory,

[Lee Jae-sung/2014 Gold Medalist: I hope they can keep this good momentum going.]

Seniors who defeated Japan in the finals of the past two consecutive tournaments injected "gold-winning energy" ahead of tomorrow's fateful match against Japan.

[Song Bum-keun/2018 Gold Medalist: There's only one step left now...]

[Son Heung-min/2018 Gold Medalist: I'll be cheering from afar so that you can achieve a great result.]

[Song Min-kyu/2022 Gold Medalist: Make sure to win and bring home the gold, juniors.]

[Choi Jun/2022 Gold Medalist, Son Heung-min/2018 Gold Medalist, Hwang In-beom/2018 Gold Medalist: Fighting!]

The younger players responded with firm resolve.

[Choi Seok-hyeon/Asian Games National Football Team Member: There's nothing special just because it's Japan, and we will definitely win the championship.]

(Video edited by Lee Seung-jin, Design by Park Tae-young)