AFC U17 Asian Cup
Before the tournament kicked off, Byun had let his team take a peek at the page in his personal journal where he had written about the grief of losing to Uzbekistan in the Qualifiers. It ignited a fire in his players and eight months later, the young Taeguk Warriors avenged the sorrow for their head coach.
#AFCU17 - SF | Korea Republic 1 - 0 Uzbekistan
“It was a tough match, and I can’t exactly put in words what this victory means to me. Ever since we lost to Uzbekistan in the Qualifiers, I have been praying for a rematch and this semi-final to me was my destiny.
“Before our first match against Qatar, I showed my journal entry to the boys from the day of our defeat. I wanted them to want this win as badly as I did and I am glad that our collective goal made us give our best performance,” said Byun.
Back In-woo’s lone goal from a set-piece ultimately made the difference and the Korean head coach admitted that had his charges succeeded in scoring a second time early in the second half, the match would have been less stressful.
“Back In-woo’s attitude has always impressed me and I admire the way his game brings a sense of balance to the team. I think it was this attitude of the team that made the biggest difference.
“Right until the final whistle blew, they didn’t lose their concentration. It resulted in a lot of chances being created in the second half despite them feeling stressed and physically drained,” said the former Sydney FC defender.
Ahead of them lies the imposing task of facing Japan in the final and Byun’s primary concern is the recovery of his players
“It isn’t easy for kids of this age to play these many matches this frequently, so recovery is the biggest challenge right now.
“With both Korea Republic and Japan having played on the same day, I think both teams are in a similar situation and we are also very familiar rivals. I am anticipating a very competitive final and thus, we will do our best to make good use of the two rest days,” added the 43-year-old.
