Celtic winger Yang makes honest admission at South Korea’s Asian Games

The 24-year-old is currently away from Martin O’Neill’s squad on international duty and helped South Korea begin their Asian Games campaign with a convincing 4-1 victory over Qatar.

Yang provided an assist in the opening win as South Korea made an impressive start to a tournament they are determined to win.

The Celtic attacker was part of the squad that endured a disappointing World Cup campaign earlier this summer, crashing out at the group stage after defeats to Mexico and South Africa followed an opening victory over the Czech Republic.

Yang admits that experience still hurts but is using it as motivation to deliver success at the Asian Games.

He said via Glasgow Times: “I am still very upset with our results at the World Cup. I remain very frustrated about it.

“But the only way to try and make it up to our supporters is to win this Asian Cup and bring back joy to the fans. The entire team is united with the single goal of a gold medal, and the manager here has the same mindset.

“There are so many young players here with a lot of potential, and I believe they can use this tournament as a stepping stone to grow into the senior national team in the future, and they can help revitalise Korean football.”

Despite contributing an assist against Qatar, Yang was critical of his own performance and believes there is significantly more to come.

He said: “Honestly, I wasn’t satisfied with my individual performance. I missed a lot of chances, and I made too many mistakes more often than I expected, so I need to improve my concentration.

“I need to be more active on the wings and provide more of a threat. Personally, I need to reduce my mistakes, make more sacrifices for the team, and run an extra mile.

“I was disappointed to lose a goal against Qatar, but if we can improve our concentration, we are fully capable of winning.”