Chinese national team coach Lippi admits defeat to Team Korea

Chinese national team coach Lippi admits defeat to Team Korea. January. 18, 2019 07:30. by Jong-Koo Yang yjongk@donga.com.
Chinese national soccer team head coach Marcello Lippi admitted defeat to the Korean team in a press conference on Thursday after the third round of group league of the Asian Cup. “Frankly Korea is faster and more technically advanced than us,” he said. "We played with Korea, the best team of our league, which beat other teams as well."

Prior to the Thursday’s match, Lippi was very confident, saying, “Our team is continuing to do well and the match with Korea is important to gain momentum.” When asked about Son Heung-min, he said, “Son is just one of many good players in Korea.”

Under Lippi's leadership, the Chinese team had never lost by one win and one tie to the Korean team. “We have beat Korea before, but we should be remindful that key players were absent at that time," the Italian coach said. "We tried our best, but eventually Korea was stronger."