Dubai: Korea Republic's Kim Young-gwon has called on his side to relieve the pressure of tournament football by starting their AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 campaign with a win against the Philippines on Monday.



With the experience of the 2015 AFC Asian Cup and two FIFA World Cups under his belt, the 28-year-old defender is familiar with the burden of expectation which comes with a major international competition, and believes a winning start will be weight off the Taeguk Warriors' shoulders.

"I mean it’s the Asian Cup, so (I know from) previous editions that you can’t have any pressure at all in an Asian Cup game.

"But what we’re trying to do is, we’re trying to release as much pressure as we can for every single game that we can, and just concentrate and play the best we can."



The Koreans arrived in the United Arab Emirates off the back of an intriguing Russia 2018 campaign, which ended in the somewhat bittersweet scenario of a stunning 2-0 win over reigning champions Germany, on the same afternoon that confirmed their group stage elimination.

Portuguese head coach Paulo Bento has since taken the reins, making the immediate impact of guiding the East Asians through a seven-game unbeaten run in preparation for the Finals.

For Kim, who scored Korea Republic's opening goal against the Germans, the team's improvement is evident, and he wants the good times to keep rolling against a Philippines outfit making their debut on the Continental stage.

"Even though we didn’t make it to the Round of 16 in the World Cup, things have changed since then, there’s a very good atmosphere around Korean football and we just want to continue with this good period that we have had," he explained.

"We’ve seen some progress since we finished at the World Cup until now, so we just want to continue the good work and keep going with this good atmosphere and make good things happen again for Korean football.

"It’ll be nice if I can score again but the most important thing is that our team can fulfil our objectives, meet the objectives that we have and let’s just see if we can come out of this tournament with a big win."

Following Monday's clash against the Southeast Asians, Korea Republic will face another team making their debut, in Kyrgyz Republic, before meeting China PR in a blockbuster Matchday Three clash Abu Dhabi.

As a two-time AFC Champions League-winning member of Chinese club Guangzhou Evergrande, Kim has called the world's most populous nation home for the past seven years and he admits he is looking forward to taking on some familiar faces on the senior international stage.

I’ve been waiting for this moment," he said. "It will be a very special moment as well since I’ll have to face the teammates that I’ve always played with, but now as an opponent.

"So it will be a very special moment, but, at the same time, I am here to represent my country and here to compete, so I have to give my best so we can come out with a win."


Source: the-afc.com