The Korean baseball team, which has set a grand goal of becoming the world’s top 4 after 14 years, is finally heading to the land of decisive battle.
The 2023 World Baseball Classic (WBC) Korean national team, led by coach Lee Kang-cheol, departs for Osaka, Japan on Korean Air at 3:10 pm on the 4th.
On this day, 28 Taegeuk warriors representing the KBO league, as well as 30 finalists, including Kim Ha-seong (San Diego Padres) and Tommy Hyun-soo Edman (St.
On the first day of arrival, the national team, which is scheduled to take a bus provided by the WBC Organizing Committee and take a break at a designated accommodation, will have their first training session on the 5th at Orix Buffaloes 2nd Division Stadium and adjust their condition.
On the 6th, they will have their first practice game with Orix at Kyocera Dome in Osaka, designated by the organizing committee, and on the 7th, they will have a second practice game with Hanshin Tigers, a prestigious local team, before moving to Tokyo, where the tournament will be held.
In this WBC, where a total of 20 countries competed in the finals, Korea, which belongs to Group B along with Japan, Australia, China and the Czech Republic, has its first goal to advance to the quarterfinals.
To advance to the quarterfinals with at least second place in their group, they must win the first match against Australia, which will be held at the Tokyo Dome at 12:00 noon on the 9th.
Australia, the competitor for second place in the group, is evaluated as a team that is slightly behind Korea in terms of objective strength, but it is absolutely forbidden to be careless.
It is predicted that Australia will introduce Warwick Soffold (KBO registered name Warick Supold), who played for the Hanwha Eagles in 2019-2020, as a starting pitcher.
In major international competitions where previous professional players participated, Korea outperformed Australia with 8 wins and 3 losses.
If they beat Australia as they set their goal, they will be able to compete in the long-awaited match between Korea and Japan on the 10th at 7:00 pm without any burden.
Japan is a strong team that is considered to be the favorite to win the championship, as it has the strongest power with American major league and Japanese professional baseball superstars such as Shohei Ohtani (Los Angeles Angels), Yu Darvish (San Diego Padres), and Munetaka Murakami (Yakult Swallows).
However, the match between Korea and Japan, where tension is at its peak in both countries, is not a match that can be easily predicted.
If he achieves the goals against Australia and Japan, Lee Kang-cheol will be able to breathe a sigh of relief.
After resting for a day on the 11th, on the 12th and 13th, they will play the 3rd and 4th rounds of the first round against the relatively weak Czech Republic and China.
If Korea advances to the quarterfinals with 1st or 2nd place in Group B, it will face off against the top two teams from Group A (Taiwan, Netherlands, Cuba, Italy, Panama) in a cross match in the quarterfinals.온라인바카라
The team that wins in the quarterfinals will board a charter flight to Miami, USA, where the semifinals and finals of the tournament will take place.
Korea, which has participated since the first year of the WBC, defeated the United States, the home of baseball, in the first tournament held in 2006 and advanced to the semifinals, and in the second tournament in 2009, it won the runner-up after a bloody battle against Japan in the final.
However, in the 3rd competition in 2013 and the 4th competition held in the living room in 2017, they suffered the humiliation of being eliminated in the first round.
In this 5th tournament, which will be held for the first time in 6 years due to the great spread of the novel coronavirus infection (Corona 19), it is necessary to advance to the semifinals at least to comfort the enthusiastic fans who were disappointed.
Head coach Lee Kang-cheol, who took over the leadership of the national team under great pressure, convened the national team to Tucson, Arizona on the 14th of last month and held an intensive training camp for two weeks.
There were some setbacks in training due to unexpected abnormal weather in the field, and on the way home, they had to travel for 35 hours due to gas problems, but the atmosphere of the team was firmly united as ‘one team’.
Coach Lee Kang-cheol said in the official announcement ahead of the practice match against SSG Landers held at Gocheok Dome on the 3rd, “I feel once again the weight, honor, pride, and glory of being a national team, as well as the infinite responsibility.” “, he said with a firm determination.