Giuseppe Ambrosino, who plays for Napoli in Italy and is currently a forward at the U-20 World Cup 2023 in Argentina, shared a funny story ahead of the semifinal against South Korea.
Referring to Kim Min-jae, one of the key players who led Napoli to the Serie A title this season, Ambrosino hopes that the South Korean U-20 defenders will not be as strong as Kim Min-jae.
Tuttosport, a local Neapolitan media outlet, published an interview with Ambrosino on July 7 in which he spoke about the upcoming match against South Korea. Italy will play South Korea in the quarterfinals on Sept. 9 at 6 a.m. in La Plata, Argentina, for a ticket to the final.
Ambrosino has started all four of Italy’s games at the tournament – against Nigeria and the Dominican Republic in the group stage, against England in the Round of 16 and against Colombia in the quarterfinals – and has scored one goal.
“It’s the semifinals of the World Cup, so it’s very difficult to come this far,” he said of facing South Korea in the quarterfinals. “They’re in the semifinals, so they’re going to be as strong as we are. But we will do everything we can to reach the final and we will try to translate the positivity we have shown so far onto the pitch.”
However, he also remembered Italy’s 0-2 defeat to Nigeria in the group stage and was looking forward to a return match against the Nigerians in the quarterfinals. “We wanted to avenge the defeat,” he said.
The media also asked an interesting question. The Napoli striker was asked what it would be like if South Korean defenders were as strong as Kim Min-jae.안전놀이터
“I hope not,” Ambrosino laughed, “I’ve watched a few games of the Korean U-20 team and I’m watching videos to analyze their defense. But I’m not going to study every single defender. We’re going to attack as a team, put them in trouble, and do what we can to win.”
Ambrosino is a Napoli regular but spent the 2022/23 season on loan at Serie B’s Como and Cittadella for six months each.