Strengthening South Korea In The Asian Cup, Wolves Lost Hwang Hee-chan

Striker Hwang Hee-chan left Wolverhampton Wanderers to strengthen South Korea in the 2023 Asian Cup. (X/@Wolves).

JAKARTA - Wolverhampton Wanderers lost forward Hwang Hee-chan who had to strengthen South Korea in the 2023 Asian Cup in Qatar.

Hwang again contributed to Wolves' victory before joining the South Korean national team. In the last duel against Everton at the Molineux Stadium, Saturday, December 30 evening WIB, Wolves won 3-0.

This is Wolves' third win in a row. The result confirmed Gary O'Neill's team in 11th position in the standings.

In that match, Hwang did not score. However, the 27-year-old gave an assist that Matheus Cunha completed.

Previously, Wolves had already taken the lead through Max Kilman's goal. Next, Craig Dawson completed the hosts' win.

Hwang actually almost broke into Everton's goal. However, the chances he got were thwarted by goalkeeper Jordan Pickford. Currently, he has scored 11 goals which make him the club's top scorer.

Hwang's departure, who already has the 59th cap, is to play in the Asian Cup forcing O'Neill to find a replacement at Wolves front.

Luckily, Pedro Neto is fit and has been performing for 10 minutes against Eveton. In addition, Sasa Kalajdzic can be an alternative to replace Hwang.

Wolves not only lost Hwang, but also Rayan Ait-Nouri and Boubacar Traore who competed in the Africa Cup of Nations. If Ait-Nouri strengthen Algeria, while Traore defends Mali.

"We lost Channy [ Hwang's nickname]. He played a big role with our achievements so far. However, I am happy with the players who will replace him," said O'Neill.

"We lost three players. So, we will maximize young players or those who have been sitting on the bench. This is certainly a challenge for us," he said.

Hwang himself has strengthened the national team since South Korea U-17. He also then defended South Korea U-19 and faced the U-19 Indonesian national team in the U-19 Asian Cup qualifiers in 2013. At that time Indonesia won 3-2 and Evan Dimas scored a hat trick.

If Hwang was still in the national team, on the other hand, there was not a single player in Indra Sjafri's team at that time who was still defending the Red and White team in the 2023 Asian Cup.