An Uzbek midfielder from the K League is back in front of South Korean soccer after being replaced by Kang San.
Timur Kapadze, 42, is the head coach of Uzbekistan, which will face South Korea in the semifinals of the Hangzhou Asian Games on Thursday at Huanglong Sports Center Stadium in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China.
A ‘legend’ with 110 caps for the Uzbekistan national team, he is a familiar face as he spent a season with K League club Incheon United in 2011.
He joined Incheon, then managed by Heo Jung-moo, and made a strong impact with his alto-ran-like performance, scoring five goals and providing three assists in 30 K League games.
Hwang Sun-hong, the head coach of South Korea’s U24 national team, has battled twice in the K League as a player and manager. After leaving Busan to take charge of Pohang in 2011, Hwang was the first coach to concede a goal against Incheon at home in April 2011.
Kapadze, who retired from active duty in 2017, has recently followed a similar path to Hwang. He took charge of Uzbekistan’s U23 team in 2021 and has been the head coach of the U20 team since this year. Last year, he led Uzbekistan to the U20 World Cup, which Hwang led.
led Uzbekistan to a 1-1 draw with the U23 team in a friendly on Mars.
Kapadze has recently been recognized for his leadership of Uzbekistan’s U23 team, which is on a 10-match winning streak. On the same day as South Korea’s 2-0 quarterfinal victory over China, Kapadze coached the team to a 2-1 win over Saudi Arabia to advance to the semifinals.
“It doesn’t matter which team is in the semifinals, Korea or China. They are both strong teams and better than us. In the end, the stronger team will face us,” he said.
Uzbekistan, coached by Kapadze, play a fast-paced, attacking style of soccer with physicality. “I was impressed with Jeonbuk’s attacking style under Choi Kang-hee,” he said, adding that he prefers to play ‘dumping football’. The team is different from the last five teams Hwang has faced. The physique of the players is also reminiscent of European players.카지노사이트
After the China game, Huang said, “Uzbekistan is quite straightforward, powerful and energetic. If we play with them, it can be difficult. We need to prepare well tactically. The best enemy is within us. We can never let our guard down. You have to take a step back and think. We will take a cautious approach and try to win the quarterfinals so that we can go to the final.”
The semifinal between South Korea and Uzbekistan will take place on April 4 at 9 p.m. KST. The winner will play the winner of the Japan-Hong Kong match for gold in the final on Sunday. South Korea will look to become the first team to win back-to-back titles at the event, following the 2014 Incheon Asian Games and the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games. They are two shots away.