Hat trick hero Kwon keen to improve against Iraqis
Date
1/19/2016 1:49:17 AM
(MENAFN- Gulf Times) Kwon Chang-hoon may have scored the first hat-trick of the AFC U23 Championship as Korea Republic defeated Yemen 5-0 to make it two-wins-out-out two but the Suwon Samsung Bluewings midfielder is still keen to up his game ahead of today’s top-of-the-table showdown with defending champions Iraq.
Kwon broke the deadlock in Saturday’s clash with Yemen when he slotted home Hwang Hee-chan’s 14th-minute pass before showcasing his aerial threat when he out jumped two defenders to head in number two on the half-hour mark.
The 21-year-old scored his third with four minutes of the first half remaining before Ryu Seung-woo (72nd) and Kim Seung-jun (76th) wrapped up Korea Republic’s second win of the campaign following their opening defeat of Uzbekistan as the East Asians guaranteed at least a second-placed finish in Group C.
“Even though I scored three goals I’m not satisfied with my performance” said Kwon whose three goals took him joint-top of the tournament scoring charts alongside Qatar captain Abdelkarim Hassan.
“I didn’t expect to score a hat-trick. I was surprised with myself” continued Kwon.
“All credit to my team-mates. I got the ball where I wanted it to be so I didn’t have much to do thanks to my colleagues.
“I’m happy we won and have reached the knockout stage and I am happy about the team’s victory but I’m not so thrilled about my performance.”
Kwon will be looking to raise his overall game when Korea Republic take on defending champions Iraq at the Grand Hamad Stadium to determine the top-two places in Group C.
“We need to make sure that we win the group so that we will play the second placed team. That is our next target. We go match by match step by step” he said.
“All the teams in Group D are equally strong so we should not worry too much about who we might face. We need to concentrate on our game.”
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