Lee Jung-hoo of the San Francisco Giants faced Korean reporters after a spring camp schedule at Scottsdale Stadium in Scottsdale, Arizona on the 16th (Korea time). There was a part that Lee Jung-hoo spoke up the most during the interview, and it was about the generational change of the national team.온라인카지노

Recently, Korea has been disgraced all the time in international competitions. It won the gold medal at the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games (AG), but this is the only recent achievement. Starting with the humiliation of being eliminated from the group stage at the World Baseball Classic (WBC) held at Gocheok Sky Dome in the 'Fangbang' in 2017, the team failed to pass the group stage at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the 2023 WBC group stage, and the 2024 World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Premier 12.

The achievement of winning the 2008 Beijing Olympics and winning the first Premier 12 has become a far-off story. Increasingly, they are losing competitiveness in international competitions. In particular, they are now in a situation where they cannot be sure of winning against Taiwan, which is rising. The problem is that they are not good enough to perform well in international competitions, but the biggest factor is that they do not have enough skills to perform well in international competitions.

Especially in the case of Premier 12 last year, the lack of skills was clearly revealed. Except for a few players including Kim Do-young, it was clearly below expectations. In particular, he couldn't move at all against Taiwan's Lin Yu-min. Considering that it is a matter of power analysis, the national team has already met Lin Yu-min twice at the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games. There is a player you need when you are completely blocked by opposing pitchers. It is a veteran.

The KBO's power reinforcement committee has completely changed the national team's roster since the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games in the name of "generation change." It was based on the calculation that these players would be able to perform well when the 2026 WBC is held through their experience in international competitions. However, there is a disadvantage of a team consisting of only young players. When the atmosphere is heated, it is out of control, but when the team's morale is down, it is infinitely down. The Premier 12 was a competition where this part was clearly revealed.

Lee Jung-hoo raised his voice. In an interview with Korean reporters, Lee said, "The performance of the national team is so bad right now. After coming to the U.S., I feel that the U.S. players are also determined. Will Korea... I think we need to prepare well from now on, but I hope we prepare well. Not only the players but also the KBO should prepare well," he said.

Players need to increase their competitiveness to become qualified to play in international competitions, but KBO can't just leave everything to players. Korea has not shown much movement despite repeated humiliation at international competitions. In contrast, Taiwan has been playing with the Lotte Giants, Japan with the Netherlands (scheduled in March) and Australia with the Hanwha Eagles. There is a clear gap in the preparation process.

According to KBO, there are no warm-up matches scheduled for this year at all. On the 17th, coach Ryu Ji-hyun, Kang In-kwon, Lee Dong-wook, Heo Sam-young, and the staff in charge of power analysis only rushed to Taiwan to analyze the power of the WBC qualifying round. It seems impossible for a national team head coach to visit a spring camp site to check the strength of each club.

Lee Jung-hoo also talked about "generational change" as if he was determined. "I like to work with seniors. We have played baseball together since we were young. Generational change has been underway since the Premier 12. However, I don't think the national team should be comprised of too young players. When we get excited, we get excited, but when we are down, no one can lead us. When we have young players, we get depressed even more. I hope we can have harmony."

"I think we need senior players who will be at the center and young players who are full of fighting spirit and energy. I think these players will be a good team only when they are harmonized, but the national team suddenly takes out all the veteran players," he said. "The national team is not going to gain experience. The players who showed the best performance of the year go and fight for the country, and even though there is a senior who showed the best performance, a young player goes out in the name of a generational change."

In fact, it was when the national team consisting of only veterans did not perform well. Rather, it was largely due to the public opinion that young players should be given opportunities and gain experience. However, no one would have expected such a sudden generational change. For this reason, Lee Jung-hoo also expressed regret and concern over the rapid generational change.

In international competitions, people only talk about the outcome. A national team is bound to be criticized if it is not good, and praised if it is good. In the case of unpopular sports, people risk their lives to win international competitions. However, this is not the case in baseball. Even though performances at international competitions are not good, annual salary is paid by the team concerned, and the popularity in Korea remains the same. This is why we need to prepare more thoroughly. However, the preparation process does not seem very solid. Will the national team under the leadership of coach Ryu Ji-hyun be different.