South Korea cannot train at Toyota Stadium, and their captain is nursing a sore foot before the Asian Games final with Japan

South Korea had planned to train at Toyota Stadium on Friday, the day before the Asian Games football final. The session was called off because of problems with the pitch. They asked to move to a different ground and were turned down. Lee Min-sung’s side will walk out on Saturday, 3 October, at a ground they have not trained on, in front of what he expects to be a mostly Japanese crowd.

Kick-off is 7.30pm local time, 4pm IST. The opponent is Japan, for the third Asian Games final in a row.

A week of small problems

The cancelled session is the latest of several. Before the group game against Qatar, the shuttle drivers took both teams to a baseball stadium rather than the football venue, and the players had to rush their warm-up. A pre-tournament press conference was delayed when an official car did not turn up. Korea’s request to train somewhere other than Toyota City Sports Park, where they say the field is poor, was rejected by the organising committee.

Lee did not make much of it in public. “Things like this can happen because we are a visiting team and we have experienced problems from the beginning,” he told reporters, according to the Korea Times. “But we have to overcome them.” He also said he expects to see a lot of Japanese supporters and wants his players to keep their composure.

The captain wants to play

The bigger worry is fitness. Captain Lee Ki-hyuk missed the 2-1 semi-final win over China on Wednesday with inflammation in his foot. He says there is still some swelling but that he expects to be fine if he concentrates on recovery. The coach will check him before deciding.

Yang Hyun-jun is less certain. The Celtic winger missed the games against Saudi Arabia and Vietnam with a hamstring problem and sat on the bench unused against China. Lee has said Yang will only play if he is fully fit and that protecting him comes first.

Korea have managed without both before. Eom Ji-sung, the Swansea City winger and one of the side’s over-age players, scored a hat-trick in the 4-1 win over Qatar and set up both goals against China. Bae Jun-ho of Stoke City headed the winner in that semi-final.

Japan’s legs after 120 minutes

Japan come into the final with no over-age players at all. Go Oiwa picked an under-21 squad with the 2028 Olympics in mind. Their semi-final against Uzbekistan on Wednesday went to extra time and then to the tenth round of penalties before they won 9-8. Korea were done with China inside 90 minutes the same day, and I would be surprised if that half-hour does not show in Japanese legs late on Saturday.

They do have the crowd, and they have a point to prove. Japan lost the 2018 final 2-1 after extra time and the Hangzhou final 2-1 after leading in the second minute. They have not won Asian Games gold since 2010.

What a fourth gold would mean

Korea have won the last three Asian Games titles, and no side has ever won four in a row. For the players there is a more personal stake. Gold spares eligible Korean players the 18 to 21 months of military service every able-bodied man otherwise has to do. For a 21-year-old trying to make it in Europe, that is a lot of football.

Uzbekistan and China play for bronze earlier on Saturday. Then it is Korea and Japan again, on a pitch Korea have not been allowed to train on.

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