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| A warm-up match between the national soccer team and Paraguay at Seoul World Cup Stadium on the 14th. Director Hong Myung-bo on the ground. Sangam = Reporter's book@sportschosun.com/2025.10.14/ |
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| The A-match warm-up match between the South Korean national soccer team and Brazil and the South Korea's best Eleven pose at Seoul World Cup Stadium on the 10th. Sangam = Reporter's book@sportschosun.com/2025.10.10/ |
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Hong Myung-bo's theme for the November A match is 'Results'. It is time to end the journey that has continued to the two consecutive games in Korea in October after confirming its advance to the 2026 North-China World Cup finals, the 2025 East Asian Cup, and the North-China World Cup in September. After the two consecutive games at home, the draw for the North Korea-China World Cup finals in December is waiting. We are all-in on continuing the atmosphere with the best result of 'victory'.
The national soccer team, led by head coach Hong Myung-bo, will play its first friendly match against Bolivia in November at Daejeon World Cup Stadium on the 14th. Bolivia, ranked 76th (22nd in South Korea) in the FIFA rankings, is seventh in the South American qualifying round for the North-China World Cup and has secured a berth for the intercontinental playoff in March next year. He did not make a 100% effort for the upcoming away match in South Korea. Goalkeeper Carlos Emilio Lampe, midfielder Robson Mateus and Ervin Baca (Bolivar) reportedly failed to get on the plane to Korea due to their team's refusal to transfer to the national team. However, as overseas players such as Gabriel Villamil (Quito) and Miguel Terceros (America's Mineiro) joined, it is difficult to say that it is '2nd advance'.
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| ◇photo courtesy of the Korea Football Association |
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Hong Myung-bo is not a complete team either. Hwang In-beom (Feyenoord) and Baek Seung-ho (Birmingham City) were injured, and Lee Dong-kyung (Ulsan HD) suffered a rib fracture in the K League 1 game just before the call-up. Bae Joon-ho (Stoke City) and Seo Min-woo (Gangwon FC) were replaced to put out the urgent fire, but the unfamiliar midfield combination is inevitable. Amid the possibility of starting Jens Kastrov (Mönchengladbach), who had previously joined the team, and Kim Jin-kyu (Jeonbuk Hyundai), who showed good performance in his team, attention is being paid to how much power the new midfield combination will exert. It is also necessary to check whether the defensive organization's problems and the efficiency of offense have improved in the process of obtaining contradictory results against Brazil (0:5) and Paraguay (2:0) in the October A match.
It is also a match where the fate of Korean soccer will be decided. Depending on the FIFA ranking points that will be obtained through the two consecutive A matches in November, the draw port for the North Korea-China World Cup finals to be held in the U.S. next month will be decided. Currently, Korea is ranked 22nd in the FIFA rankings. In the draw, chances are high that it will receive two ports, one that includes the top ranker and the host country. The first and second port teams enjoy a lot of benefits in that they can benefit from certain aspects in the group stage and meet weak opponents. Analysts say that Korea is at the two-port Maginot Line. Bolivia and Ghana (73rd) to face in Seoul on the 18th are both far lower than South Korea's. If they win consecutive games against them, they will be able to win two ports, but if they draw or lose, the possibility of winning two ports will also be blurred due to point losses.
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| A warm-up match between the national soccer team and Paraguay at Seoul World Cup Stadium on the 14th. Director Hong Myung-bo makes a public service. Sangam = Reporter's book@sportschosun.com/2025.10.14/ |
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Coach Hong Myung-bo said, `The most urgent thing is to enter Port 2 at the draw ceremony. We must win"Emphasized the importance. "This is the last warm-up match of the year, and in that sense, the results are very important," he said, vowing to focus as much as possible on getting results by playing according to the existing plan.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
