The concerns are '2nd line' and 'Fullback'
The Hong Myung-bo is departing again. South Korea's A-team coach Hong Myung-bo will announce the March A match list at 11 a.m. on the 10th at the Korea Football Center in Jongno-gu, Seoul. South Korea will play the seventh and eighth rounds of the third Asian qualifying round for the 2026 North-China World Cup. He will face Oman at Goyang Stadium at 8 p.m. on the 20th and Jordan at Suwon World Cup Stadium at 8 p.m. on the 25th.
South Korea, which is undefeated, is currently leading Group B with four wins and two draws and 14 points. Iraq is in second place with 11 points, and Jordan is in third place with 9 points. In the third qualifying round, tickets to the finals will be given to the second place in each group. If the two consecutive games are caught, the gap with the third place can be widened to a maximum of eight points, so North Korea and the U.S. can be confirmed early regardless of the remaining two games.
As he had the opportunity to switch to the finals early on, Hong plans to make all-out efforts in this two consecutive games. As it's two consecutive home games, there's plenty of possibility. There is a big power difference. South Korea is ranked 23rd in the FIFA rankings. Oman remains at 80th and Jordan at 64th. South Korea also beat Oman 3-1 and Jordan 2-0 in their previous away matches.
First of all, it's a concern to have an injured person. In particular, Hwang In-beom (Feyenoord), the "nuclear of the center", has not been able to play for more than a month due to injury since the regular league game on the 9th of last month. Of course, as we have recently started training, it is not that there is no possibility of selection at all. Cho Hyun-woo (Ulsan) and Kim Seung-gyu (Al Shabab) are also injured in the goalkeeper's position 'Big 2'. Fortunately, Cho Hyun-woo, who suffered a broken nose, is recently considering his return.
The battlegrounds are also '2 lines' and 'Fullback'. However, the aspect of concern is different. The second line is literally 'happy woes'. Although it has slowed down recently, Son Heung-min (Tottenham) and Lee Kang-in (Paris Saint-Germain) are still in good shape. Lee Jae-sung (Mainz) is performing well enough to lead a relegation team and challenge them to advance to the European Champions League. 'Bulls' Hwang Hee-chan (Wolverhampton) also returned.
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| AP Yonhap News |
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The activities of 'Younggun' who are looking for their seats are unusual. In terms of their recent form, they are even better. The representative player is Yang Hyun-joon (Celtic). He has scored four goals and five assists in six official matches in the past month. In last weekend's game, he scored two goals and one assist, and was selected as the team of migration by multiple media outlets. If Yang Hyun-joon, who has been away from the national team since the Qatar Asian Cup in February 2024, returns, it could be a boost to the offense.
Bae Joon-ho (Stoke City), Um Ji-sung (Swansea City), and Yang Min-hyuk (QPR), who are competing in the championship, are also active in every game. At the end of last month, Bae Joon-ho scored his first and second goals this season. Um Ji-sung also exploded his England debut goal. Yang Min-hyuk, who left Tottenham for Queens Park Rangers (QPR), plays every game and is growing steadily. There is also Lee Dong-kyung (Kim Chun) in the K-League. As it is not strange for anyone to enter, director Hong is bound to be a concern.
Fullback is different. It is difficult to select Lee Myung-jae (Birmingham) and Hwang Moon-ki (Pyeongchang), who have been named since the launch of Hong Myung-bo. Lee Myung-jae has not been able to play since the transfer, and Hwang Moon-ki joined the military. Coach Hong is already worried about fullback. Coach Hong picked a new face at every convocation, most of which were focused on fullbacks. In the meantime, two people who had been trusted by head coach Hong escaped at the same time.
First of all, with Seol Young-woo (Zvezda), who is using a career high in Europe, attention is drawn to young resources that have been showing good performance recently. Lee Tae-seok (Pohang), Hwang Jae-won (Daegu), and Choi Woo-jin (Jeonbuk) are considered likely candidates. All of them have been called by head coach Hong once, and they are currently the best players in the K-League.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
