S. Korea finish 4th at Asian U-23 football tournament

SEOUL, Jan. 26 (Yonhap) -- South Korea took fourth place at the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-23 Championship football tournament after they lost to Qatar 1-0 on Friday.

Qatar's Akram Afif scored the only goal of the match in the 38th minute at Kunshan Stadium in Kunshan, China. South Korea, led by head coach Kim Bong-il, had their chance to level the score in the 51st minute, but Hwang Hyun-soo failed to convert a penalty kick.

The young Taeguk Warriors found themselves in the third place playoff after they suffered a 4-1 loss to Uzbekistan in the semifinal match on Tuesday.

With the latest result, South Korea also failed to get one of the top seeds in the group stage of the 2020 AFC U-23 Championship, which also doubles as the qualifying tournament for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.

Meanwhile, Vietnam and Uzbekistan will play for their first U-23 title at Changzhou Olympic Sports Centre in Changzhou on Saturday. Vietnam are led by South Korean coach Park Hang-seo, who previously served as an assistant to Guus Hiddink at the 2002 World Cup.

kdon@yna.co.kr
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