No time to celebrate for S. Korean goal scorer after win over China in men’s football quarters

His goal helped send South Korea into the semifinals of the men’s football tournament at the Asian Games in China on Sunday night, but South Korean winger Song Min-kyu was not in the mood to celebrate anything just yet.

“It’s a relief to get this win, but I don’t know if I am 100 percent happy right now,” Song said following South Korea’s 2-0 win over China in the quarterfinals at Huanglong Sports Centre Stadium in Hangzhou. “We’ve only made it to the semifinals, and we have two more steps that we want to take. We’ll only enjoy this tonight and get back to work tomorrow.”

Song was referring to the two more wins that South Korea need to win their third consecutive gold in men’s football.

Song scored in the 35th minute after making his first start of the tournament but said he is never fully satisfied.

“I know I could have been better in some areas and made mistakes where I shouldn’t have,” he said. “I know I have my work cut out to keep growing.”

South Korea will next play Uzbekistan in the semifinals Wednesday.

“I think they will be an extremely difficult opponent, but they will probably see us the same way,” Song said. “Regardless of the opponents, we absolutely want to win every match.”

Midfielder Hong Hyun-seok, who opened the scoring in the 18th minute, said he got a kick out of silencing the loud, pro-Chinese crowd with his free kick goal.

“This place felt a little like a library at that moment,” Hong said. “When we went out for the warmup, I was surprised to see so many people in the stands that early. But once we started the match, I didn’t really pay attention to them.”

Hong said he has enjoyed being on such a tight-knit team.

“I absolutely love this team,” he said. “Everyone is working so hard toward the same goal, and we are a really close group. That chemistry carried us in this match.”