Korea to Face Heat, Home Fans at East Asian Cup

Published on 2015/08/01 | Source

Kim Young-gwon

Korea will face China in the first match of the East Asian Cup in Wuhan, China on Sunday.

With the Chinese players boosted by their local fans, Korea is counting on defender Kim Young-gwon, who has played for Guangzhou Evergrande in the Chinese Super League since July 2012. Early this week, Uli Stielike, manager of the Korean national football team, selected him as a captain for the match.

"Unlike both Korea and Japan, which have to compete without their star players -- most of whom play in the European leagues -- China is getting ready for the matches with its top-notch players", Kim said.

China is looking to win its first East Asian Cup title in five years, and its 23-man squad consists entirely of players from the Chinese league -- seven of them being teammates of Kim.

Another possible obstacle is Wuhan's sweltering summer heat, which currently hovers around 35 degrees. "It's even hard to breathe, but we will need to be speedy and stay one step ahead of our opponents to control the game", Kim said.

The Korean players will leave for Wuhan on Friday.