September sparring opponent Mexico's view of Hong Myung-bo, a very quick and tactically well organized team...I'm looking forward to it

May 20, 2025

Mexico national team coach Javier Aguirre and Lee Kang-in, who worked with Mayorkas. We are going to meet the enemy in the A-match warm-up match in September. Source = Mayorkas Club SNS

Mexican daily 'El Economistar' homepage capture

Mexico's national soccer team expressed both alertness and expectation for the East Asian powerhouse duo South Korea and Japan, which will face off in a friendly match in September.

Mexico plans to face Japan first in Oakland, a neutral site, on September 6 (local time) and then play a second warm-up match against Hong Myung-bo in the U.S. on September 9, three days later.

In an interview with the Mexican daily 'El Economista' on the 17th, Duilio Davino, director of the Mexican national team, said, `I am very happy to play against a team like Japan, which has already confirmed its advance to the World Cup finals. Japan is very strong and ranked in the top 20 in the FIFA rankings. Japan ranked 15th in the April FIFA rankings, while Mexico ranked 17th.

Hosted by the Korea Football Association, the Korea Professional Football Federation, Ulsan HD, Pohang Steelers and sponsored by six sports media companies such as Sports Chosun, Sports Trends, Sports Dong-A, Sports Seoul, World Biz & Sports World, and Daily Sports, the "2025 Footballer Golf Competition" was held at Korea CC in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province on the 19th. Director Hong Myung-bo is trying to putt. Yongin = Reporter Park Jae-man pjm@sportschosun.com/2025.05.19/

It is true that director Davino overvalued Japan. However, this does not mean that Korea, ranked 23rd in the FIFA rankings, was ignored. A domestic media outlet said Davino 'Japanese players are very fast. The team also reported that they tactically said the organization went well', but it was a mistranslation. Davino described South Korea as a `very fast, tactically well-organized team.'

Director Davino said "This has achieved our goal of playing against other continents"He didn't hide his expectations for the two games. Mexico, one of the co-hosts of the 2026 World Cup (USA, Mexico, Canada), will face Europe, Switzerland and Turkiye in the U.S. during the A-match period in June to speed up preparations for the World Cup.

Before taking on Mexico, South Korea will take on another host, the U.S., in New Jersey, the U.S. on the 6th. Japan only changes the order with South Korea and takes on Mexico-U.S. It is expected to be two consecutive games that can indirectly compare the power of South Korea and Japan.

Captain Hong Myung-bo-ho Son Heung-min (Tottenham) and Lee Kang-in (Paris Saint-Germain) will be reunited with their teacher. Son Heung-min faces U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino, who led Tottenham's heyday together. Mexico's coach is Javier Aguirre, who led Lee Kang-in's career rebound in Mallorca. At the training ground, Lee Kang-in was called 'Cino (Chinese)', sparking controversy over racism.

ReutersYonhap News

South Korea is determined to advance to the World Cup finals through two consecutive World Cup Asian qualifiers against Iraq on June 6 and Kuwait on June 10, and to play in the U.S. away game with ease. South Korea has an advantage over the U.S. with five wins, three draws, and three losses in all past records. It was the first meeting since the friendly match (0-2 loss) held in the U.S. in February 2014. He is in a inferior position against Mexico with four wins, two draws and eight losses and three consecutive losses. The most recent face-off was a friendly match in Austria in November 2020, when South Korea lost 2-3.

Coach Hong Myung-bo continues to check the players at the '2025 Footballers' Golf Tournament' held in Yongin on the 19th. It's an announcement next week, so I keep watching it. Rather than someone standing out, I'm going to watch it until this week, focusing on players who are consistently good." The positions that concern me the most are the central midfielder and the full-back. Fullbacks are being renamed in each A-match. Director Hong said "I'm thinking about it all the time. This is especially true of central midfielders and full-backs. The goalkeepers are doing so well these days, so that's a concern. There is a lot of competition for goalkeepers."

This article was translated by Naver AI translator.