South Korea's U-24 soccer team comfortably passed the first gateway to a third straight Asian Games with a three-game sweep. Ace Lee Kang-in (22-Paris Saint-Germain), who joined the squad late, also made his first appearance and looked in fine form.

South Korea, coached by Hwang Sun-hong (55), beat Bahrain 3-0 in their final Group E match of the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games on Thursday at the Jinhua Sports Center Stadium in Zhejiang Province, China, thanks to goals from Lee Han-beom (22-Mitwillan), Baek Seung-ho (26-North Korea) and Ko Young-joon (22-Pohang). South Korea (9 points), who clinched the top spot in the group and a spot in the round of 16 after two games, continued their upward trend with three wins from three group matches. South Korea defeated Kuwait 9-0 in game one on Sept. 19 and Thailand 4-0 in game two on Sept. 21. Through three games, the team has scored 16 goals and not conceded a single goal. South Korea will play Group E runner-up Kyrgyzstan in the round of 16 at 8:30 p.m. on Nov. 27 at the same venue. The highly anticipated North-South clash will require both teams to advance to the final.

Against Bahrain, the spotlight was on Lee Kang-in, who started. After rehabbing from a left thigh muscle injury last month, Lee took to the field as a late substitute in Paris Saint-Germain's European Champions League group stage match against Dortmund on Sept. 20, and immediately boarded a plane to China to join the squad on Sept. 21. Lee played the first 35 minutes. While he didn't record an offensive point, he raised expectations with his light touch. He played as a second striker in the first half and as a playmaker in the midfield after the midway point. Hwang brought Lee to the bench early on, considering his physical condition.

Hwang used a rotation of players without many of the main players to ensure their fitness. The first half ended 0-0 as they struggled against Bahrain's dense defense. In the 16th minute of the second half, defender Lee Han-beom scored the first goal with a header. With momentum on their side, 카지노사이트킴 Korea scored back-to-back goals from substitutes Baek Seung-ho (29th minute) and Ko Young-joon (39th minute) to extend their lead.