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| Source=Syagol SNS Capture |
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| Source=Syagol SNS Capture |
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Incheon defender Delbridge will play in a friendly match against Manchester United on the 28th as a 'de facto K-League representative'.
The ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) announced on the 27th that it had appointed Harrison Delbridge, a member of Incheon, to the ASEAN All-Star Team (East Asia All-Star). AFF reached out to K Leaguer after having difficulty in recruiting key players due to the schedule of the Southeast Asian countries that will play the 2026 North-China World Cup qualifiers next month.
It has become difficult for former members of major national teams such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, and Brunei to participate in the 'Syagol', which deals with the news of Indonesian and Southeast Asian soccer. Because of this, AFF is looking at foreign players. Australia also has to focus on qualifying for the World Cup, but Delbridge (who has not been assigned to Australia's national team) is one of the few players who can play against Manchester United as an ASEAN All-Star. Delbridge is the only active K Leaguer to be voted All-Star.
The Southeast Asian All-Star, led by Vietnamese national soccer team coach Kim Sang-sik, will play a friendly match against the Premier League's prestigious United at 9:45 p.m. (Korea time) at Bukit Jalil National Stadium in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
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| ReutersYonhap News |
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| EPAYonhap News |
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| photo courtesy of the Korea Professional Football Association |
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Coach Kim, who emerged as a national hero by winning the AFF Mitsubishi Electric Cup in 2024, will play a resourceful match with Manchester United coach Ruben Amorim. The addition of Delbridge, who faced each other as a defender of the opposing team when he was the head coach of Jeonbuk, is expected to be a great boost. Delbridge, a 93-meter-tall center back, joined Incheon in 2021 and has been on the K-League stage for four seasons.
This season, he was pushed out of the competition to become a starting player and only played three K League 2 games. This is why Incheon coach Yoon Jung-hwan was able to allow Delbridge to be dispatched with Incheon ahead of the 14th round of the K League 2 against Cheonan City on the 1st of next month. Incheon is leading the way with an overwhelming 11 wins (1 draw and 1 loss, 34 points) in 13 games.
Manchester United, which lost to Tottenham in the European Europa League final and ended its friendly match with the ASEAN All-Star, will fly to Hong Kong for a second friendly match with the Hong Kong national team on the 30th. Manchester United set up a squad of 32 players including captain Bruno Fernandes, Ahmad Diallo, Mason Mount, Casemiro, Luke Shaw, Harry Maguire, Matthijs de Ligot, Diogo Dalot and Andre Onana, as well as Alejandro Garnacho, who is likely to be transferred.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
