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Korea Republic’s Kim on a special mission
Jakarta: Kim Gun-woo and the Korea Republic squad are on a double mission at the AFC Futsal Asian Cup Indonesia 2026™.
A successful tournament is the obvious aim but Kim said they also want to capture the attention and interest of the people of Korea Republic with their matches and performances.

#ACFutsal2026 | Group A: Korea Republic 2-3 Iraq

#ACFutsal2026 | Group A: Korea Republic 2-3 Iraq

While Korea Republic are a powerhouse in football, having reached the FIFA World Cup 2002 semi-finals as well as defeating Germany at the 2018 edition, futsal has yet to capture the imagination back home, said Kim.

“In Korea, football is loved by the people but for futsal, there's not many people who really know this sport,” said Kim.
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“To make futsal develop, that's why we are all trying to get good results from this tournament. This is why we are here. 

“I'm not sure if we can be competitive or not. That's not the important thing for the players. We're doing our best to get good results and to develop ourselves as well.”
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Korea Republic are doing their utmost to achieve their targets and were minutes away from achieving a first win at the Finals since 2007 against Iraq on Thursday.

Trailing 1-0 at the break, Kim equalised seconds into the second half with Eom Ji-yong then putting Korea Republic ahead but it wasn’t to be as the West Asian side struck two late goals to take the points. 
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“We lost but we really did our best. We still have one game left, so hopefully we can get a positive result.”