Coach Hong Myung-bo's decision to replace Son Heung-min's captain was made after listening to all the members. I'll be appointed as captain two months before the World Cup

Sep 01, 2025

Hong Myung-bo, who succeeded in advancing to the World Cup finals for 11 consecutive times, headed to the United States, the final site of the warm-up match in September, with determination to win.

The South Korean national soccer team, led by head coach Hong Myung-bo, boarded a flight to the U.S. through Incheon International Airport at 10 a.m. on the 1st. Kim Jin-gyu, Park Jin-seop, Song Bum-geun (Jeonbuk), Cho Hyun-woo (Ulsan), K Leaguers Kim Moon-hwan, Lee Myung-jae (Daejeon), Lee Dong-kyung (Kim Chun), Seo Min-woo (Gangwon), and Byun Jun-su (Gwangju) left the country with head coach Hong, coaches and staff. The remaining 17 players in overseas leagues, including Son Heung-min (LA FC), Lee Kang-in (Paris Saint-Germain), Kim Min-jae (Bayern Munich), Lee Jae-sung (Mainz), and Jens Kastroff (Borussia Mönchengladbach), will move directly to the U.S.

Hong Myung-bo, who gathered in the U.S., will play a friendly match against the U.S. national team at Sports Illustrated Stadium in New Jersey at 6 a.m. on the 7th (Korea time). He will then move to Tennessee and play a warm-up match against the Mexican national team at Giodis Park at 10 a.m. on the 10th. It plans to test its power against the U.S. and Mexico, the host countries of the North Korea-China World Cup, and start a new face check. It also means that he will make a preliminary tour of the U.S., a potential venue, with about nine months left before the World Cup finals.

In a standing interview before leaving the country, Hong said, `Now the World Cup is 10 months away. Now it is a very important game to enter the World Cup system. Results are important, but we have to experiment with which players will be competitive next June. I think this match is a good partner for us. There are injured players, but it will be a game where we can find alternatives and prepare well for how to play. I'll do my best to prepare for both games," he said.

At the Seoul Shinmun-ro Football Center on the 25th, Hong Myung-bo, head coach of the national soccer team, announced the list of call-ups for the two consecutive A matches in September. Director Hong Myung-bo answers questions. Reporter Huh Sang-wook @sportschosun.com/2025.08.25/

The two consecutive games are significant in that it is the first away warm-up match since Hong Myung-bo, who has been immersed in advancing to the World Cup finals, started the World Cup mode. The FIFA rankings of the U.S. and Mexico are ranked 15th and 13th, respectively, eight to 10 places higher than South Korea, which is ranked 23rd. It is the first time in two and a half years that an A match will be played against a team with a higher FIFA ranking since the domestic warm-up matches against Uruguay (16th at the time) and Colombia (17th at the time) in March 2023 under former coach Jurgen Klinsmann. At that time, South Korea lost to Uruguay 1-2 in former coach Klinsmann's debut and drew with Colombia 2-2.

The U.S. national team, led by coach Son Heung-min's teacher Mauricio Pochettino, will play against Korea in the 1.5th division, excluding some of the best members. On the other hand, the Mexican national team, led by coach Javier Aguirre, Lee Kang-in, convened all of the best members who play in the European big leagues, including Raul Jimenez (Fullum) and Santiago Jimenez (AC Milan). It is evaluated that Mexico will be a more difficult opponent.

"In the final Asian qualifying round, we continued to play Plan A (four-back tactic). It's not satisfactory, but I think the players have a good understanding of tactics to some extent"We first started Plan B (three-back tactics) in preparation for the World Cup finals at the East Asian Cup." This time, I intend to experiment with (Plan B) players in Europe,' he said, hinting that he could test the Plan B three-back against the U.S. and Mexico.

Ahead of the two consecutive games, the national team faced unfavorable factors such as the main center back Kim Min-jae and attacking midfielder Lee Kang-in, who were unable to play steadily for their teams, and the main midfielder Hwang In-beom (Feyenoord) was dropped due to a calf injury. Coach Hong said, `I'm not playing as expected. However, it hasn't been long since the opening, and we have to wait and see about that part in the future. I'm not in a position to control the game time, so I want the players to work harder and try to play. I intend to have in-depth talks with those players on this away trip."

About Hwang In-beom's injury absence "Everyone knows that Hwang In-beom is the mainstay of our team. However, in my experience, there are always injury variables in big competitions such as the World Cup and the Olympics. There is a possibility that it will continue to do so in the future. It is important that we have alternatives, and I think that is also an opportunity for us to prepare" he said.

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On the boarding of midfielder Jens Kastrov, the first overseas-born mixed-race player on the national soccer team, many players in other countries often chose one country. What's important is how competitive Castrov is in that position by joining the national team. It's a short period of time, but I'm going to help as much as we can." Then "There may be some difficulties in communicating smoothly with existing players." However, Lee continues to study Korean and is working hard on Korea. As Lee chose the Korean national team, he stressed that he intends to create a comfortable atmosphere so that he can play the most comfortably.

Coach Hong hinted at the possibility of replacing the captain at a press conference to announce the A-match list in September. The current captain is Son Heung-min. In response to this, "I mentioned the possibility of change in the future" We don't know what will happen in the next 10 months. (Replacement of captain) I can't decide on my own. Of course, I will make the final decision, but before that, I have to listen to all the members' thoughts and opinions, listen to the players' opinions, and make a decision," he said, expressing his position that he would take enough time to decide whether to replace the captain.

In addition, "I was also the captain two months before the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup." I know it's very difficult to be a captain. We will continue to discuss to get the best results."

Before leaving the national team, local reports said striker Oh Hyun-kyu (Henk) will move to German Bundesliga club Stuttgart. Coach Hong said, `The decision has not been made yet. There was a little time left in local time. However, I think something will happen as the player delayed the flight time (to the U.S.) for about a day, but I haven't heard anything officially yet. waiting situation"

Winger Hwang Hee-chan (Wolverhampton), who was excluded from the list this September, scored a goal in the Premier League against Everton on August 30. Hong said, `Hwang Hee-chan showed good performance in the two games after being excluded from the list. Hwang Hee-chan plays a very important role in the national team. Not only me but all of our staff know that part. However, this time, Jung Sang-bin was excluded to test once. Hwang Hee-chan is a player who is not strange whenever he enters the national team, and I think it will be a great help to the national team if he shows the way he is now."

This article was translated by Naver AI translator.