"Kim Yeon-koung Deserved to Reach Semifinals," Praised by Opposing Turkey Coach

GuideTi Coach "Our Players Also Did Their Best... Tears Prove It"

Player Kim Yeon-koung, who succeeded in advancing to the semifinals, is cheering.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

"South Korea, led by Kim Yeon-koung, showed more strength than expected." This is a comment from Giovanni Guidetti, the head coach of the Turkey women's volleyball team. He did not hold back his praise for South Korea and Kim Yeon-koung, who blocked their path to the semifinals.

Our national team defeated Turkey 3-2 in a full-set battle in the women's volleyball quarterfinals at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics held on the 4th at Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan. This marked their first advancement to the Olympic semifinals in nine years since the 2012 London Games.

Turkey was considered to have a stronger team objectively, ranked four places higher at 4th in the world rankings. However, the united Korean team showed resilience beyond their ranking. In particular, Kim Yeon-koung played the role of the spearhead in attack, encouraging her teammates with strong leadership. She scored the highest points for both teams with a fierce 28 points from spikes.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Coach Guidetti has been leading VakifBank in the Turkish league since 2008 and knows Kim Yeon-koung well. He is also familiar with Korean volleyball through his connection with the late coach Lee Hee-wan during his time as a coach for the German women's volleyball team. After the match, in an interview with Turkey's Sivaspor, he stated, "We prepared well for the game, but South Korea and Kim Yeon-koung played better than we expected." He added, "They deserved to advance to the semifinals."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Coach Guidetti said, "South Korea became the winner, but our players also did their best until the end. Their tears prove this," and added, "The Turkish people should be proud of our players." Referring to the recent large-scale wildfires in Antalya Province in southern Turkey, he expressed, "I am sorry we could not bring joy to the Turkish people suffering from this great disaster."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.