Eom Ji-sung leads South Korea to Asian Games football gold

Eom Ji-sung scored the very first goal for South Korea in the men's football tournament of the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on Sept. 15.

Then on Saturday night, the 24-year-old winger for Swansea City scored the national team's very last goal of the competition -- the lone marker in South Korea's 1-0 win over Japan in the gold medal match at Toyota Stadium in Toyota, some 30 kilometers east of Nagoya.

After that first goal in South Korea's first group-stage match against Qatar, Eom added two more for a hat trick. He went on to record four assists over his next three matches before netting his tournament-best fourth goal Saturday night.

All told, Eom was the offensive engine from start to finish.

At the Asian Games, men's football is open to players at 23 or younger, but teams are allowed to bring up to three players over that limit. Eom was chosen as an over-age player for head coach Lee Min-sung, who looked to the skilled midfielder to lead the attack for a team that lacked a high-end talent in the mold of Son Heung-min and Lee Kang-in, stars of the 2018 and 2023 Asian Games, respectively.

Eom arrived in Japan in strong form, with a goal and an assist in two consecutive matches for his Welsh club.

And at the Asian Games, he picked up right where he left off, proving coach Lee had made the right decision in using one of the three over-age players on Eom.

"Being an over-age player here did bring some pressure but I tried to embrace it and tried to do what I could do best," Eom said. "I got plenty of help from my teammates along the way.

"I will never forget this competition for the rest of my life," he added. "It is said I will never get to train and play with this same group of players again. We all accomplished our goal here and when we get together later, we will be able share some fun stories together."