If South Korea can reach the Asian Cup final, Lee Kang-in will be in the running for the tournament’s Most Valuable Player (MVP) award.
The South Korean national soccer team, led by Jürgen Klinsmann, will face Jordan in the quarterfinals of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup 2023 at the Ahmed Bin Ali Stadium in Al Rayyan, Qatar, on Sunday at 0:00 a.m. ET.
On the other side of the draw, Iran will face Qatar. Iran and Qatar will meet in the Asian Cup quarterfinals at Al Thumama Stadium in Doha, Qatar, on Aug. 8 at 0:00.
With just three games left to go, the focus is now on who will be named the tournament’s MVP. Lee Kang-in, Son Heung-min, Akram Afif (Qatar), Sardar Azmoun (Iran), and Yazan Abdallah Alnaimat (Jordan) have all had MVP-caliber performances for South Korea, Jordan, Qatar, and Iran. Of the five or so candidates, it comes down to Lee and Afif as the two players who have shown the most promise.
In terms of record, Apif has the edge over Lee. He has the most offensive points in the tournament so far with four goals and two assists. His impact on the game has also been huge. He was named to the tournament’s best eleven in the first and second rounds of the group stage, and was also named to the best eleven in the round of 16.
Lee is tied for third in the tournament in offensive points with three goals and one assist. He was named to the Best Eleven twice in the group stage. That’s not to say that Lee’s performance in the round of 16 was lacking. Overshadowed somewhat by Son Heung-min’s final one-man show and Hwang Hee-chan’s intensity, Lee was a consistent performer for the entire 120 minutes.
More than the record, Lee Kang-in’s MVP honor is about South Korea reaching the final, and hopefully winning it. The Asian Cup MVP has been awarded since 1972. If you look at the history of MVP awards, you’ll notice that in the early years, MVPs were often crowned regardless of whether they won the 카지노사이트 추천 tournament. South Korean legend Kim Joo-sung in 1988, Zhao Shuquan (China) in 1984, and Bethesda Fariba (Iran) in 1980 are examples of players who won the MVP award even though their country did not win the tournament.
In the 21st century, however, MVPs have begun to come from winning nations. From the 2000 tournament to the 2019 tournament, the MVP was crowned by the winning country. If recent trends are anything to go by, the MVP will most likely be awarded to the player from the winning country.
Whether it’s Lee Kang-in, Afif, or a third player, the player who leads his country to victory will be the number 0 MVP candidate. If South Korea doesn’t win the title, Lee Kang-in will still be the MVP, but he’ll need to dominate in the quarterfinals and finals as he has so far.