‘Klinsman’ will depart in earnest. Head coach Jurgen Klinsmann of the Korean national soccer team announced the new team roster for the national team evaluation match (A match) in June. Hong Hyun-seok (Ghent), a Belgian leaguer who is attracting attention as a “young” European, was called up, and Son Jun-ho (Shandung Taishan), who is being detained in China, was also included in the list.
On the 5th, coach Klinsman announced the list of national team convocations for the 2nd A-match in June at the Seoul Soccer Center. The national team will play Peru on the 16th in Busan and El Salvador in Daejeon on the 20th.
Coach Klinsman, who took the lead of the national team after former coach Paulo Bento (Portugal), who led the Qatar World Cup round of 16 last year, made his debut in March in two consecutive A-matches (Colombia and Uruguay). As it was at the beginning of his tenure, he organized the national team mainly with members of the World Cup round of 16. In the match against Colombia, they drew 2-2 and lost to Uruguay 1-2, but they enjoyed the eyes of the fans by showing aggressive performance, such as leaving ‘captain’ Son Heung-min (Tottenham) as a free ‘free-roll’. And this June’s two A-matches are expected to be a full-fledged stage where the attacking soccer of coach Klinsman, a former striker, will be revealed.
Coach Klinsman first retained Hwang Eui-jo (FC Seoul), Cho Kyu-seong (Jeonbuk), and Oh Hyeon-kyu (Celtic), who were included in the first strike team last March. Striker Joo Min-gyu (Ulsan), who was tied for the top scorer (8 goals) in the K-League 1 in professional football, swallowed regret as he was omitted from the roster this time.
Coach Klinsman said, “The three players on the roster this time can definitely show more. Of course, there are players who score more goals than these in the K-League 1 now, but player selection must be considered in various ways.” It is also our role to think about how to help when that happens.” Coach Klinsman is highly likely to send Oh Hyun-kyu, who has been very active in the Scottish Premiership Celtic this season and has won the ‘triple crown’ in six months, as a starter.
In the midfield line, while selecting European players such as Son Heung-min, ‘soccer genius’ Kang-in Lee (Mallorca), and ‘Bull’ Hee-chan Hwang (Wolverhampton), Hong Hyun-seok, who is on the Belgian stage, was newly called. Born in 1999, he is a ‘newcomer’ and is an attacking midfielder whose strengths are active and quality passes. Hong Hyun-seok has been active for Gent this season and is recording 6 goals and 6 assists in the league. He, who will wear the Taegeuk mark for the first time, is expected to breathe new life into the national team’s midfield.스포츠토토
Jeju side defender Ahn Hyun-beom and Ulsan Hyundai midfielder Park Yong-woo also wore the national team uniform for the first time in their lives. Ahn Hyun-beom, a right-sided defender, boasts quick feet and is leading Jeju’s second-place finish by recording 2 goals and 2 assists in 15 games this season.
The defensive line has also changed drastically. ‘Monster defender’ Kim Min-jae (Napoli) was excluded from this evaluation match due to military training, while Kim Young-kwon (Ulsan) and Kim Moon-hwan (Jeonbuk) were left out due to injuries. They will be replaced by Hyun-beom Ahn, Park Ji-soo (Portimonense), Joo-seong Kim (FC Seoul), Kyung-won Kwon (Osaka Gamba), and Ki-je Lee (Suwon Samsung).
Klinsman also added midfielder Son Jun-ho, who has been detained by the Chinese police for three weeks and is under investigation. Son Jun-ho was arrested by the local police on suspicion of being involved in match-fixing. The actual joining is unclear, but it is included in the list with the intention of supporting it. Coach Klinsman said, “We are doing everything we can at the football association level. I hope Son Jun-ho knows that we are always helping.”