Korea U-23 national soccer team suffered day after day due to poor transportation support for Asian Games

(Nagoya = Yonhap News) Reporter Oh Myeong-eon = The Korean U-23 men's soccer team participating in the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games is facing difficulties every day due to the inexperienced management of the tournament organizing committee.

The Korean national team, which defeated Qatar 4-1 in the first match of Group D of the group stage the previous day, was scheduled to begin recovery training on the 16th, but the schedule was disrupted as no vehicle to take them to the training site was dispatched.

In the end, we had a hard time finding a replacement vehicle in the morning, and the national team, which was originally scheduled to start training at 10:30, was only able to arrive at the site at 10:50.

This is not the first time that the Korean national team has suffered damage due to sloppy transportation support.

On the 15th, when the Qatar game was held, there was an absurd incident where the bus driver heading to the stadium did not know the destination properly and headed to the wrong baseball stadium.

They were supposed to go to the rugby stadium where the soccer game was being held in Mizuho Park, but the driver took the team to a nearby baseball stadium, so the team arrived at the stadium 30 minutes later than scheduled.

Mizuho Park is a place where several sports facilities are gathered, including the main stadium where the opening ceremony of the Asian Games will be held.

However, the Asian Games games will not be held at all at the baseball stadium where the national team bus was headed. The baseball game at this tournament will be played in another city in Aichi Prefecture, not Nagoya City.

Previously, on the 14th, coach Lee Min-seong and national team officials waited to attend the official press conference, but they were late to the event because the assigned vehicle did not arrive at the lodging.

An official from the Korea Football Association expressed strong regret, saying, "Minor problems surrounding vehicle dispatch and operation continue to arise during training and official events during the tournament. This is a situation that not only we but all teams currently participating in the tournament are experiencing in common."