South Korea’s national soccer team is set to host Peru and El Salvador in a two-match series in June. Head coach Jürgen Klinsmann’s (GER) squad will convene in Busan on June 12 and face Peru on June 16 (Busan Asiad Stadium) and El Salvador on June 20 (Daejeon World Cup Stadium).
It will be Klinsmann’s second call-up and third or fourth A match since taking over, but he sees the June 2 series as his true debut. The March doubleheader against Colombia and Uruguay was more of a celebration of qualifying for the round of 16 at the 2022 FIFA World Cup, and the roster was almost identical to the World Cup squad.
However, the situation is not so easy. A number of variables prevent us from fielding a full strength squad. The broken back three is a particular concern. Son Jun-ho (31-Shandong Taishan), who was named to the June call-up list, has been detained by Chinese police for more than three weeks on suspicion of “soliciting non-state actors (non-officials)” and is unable to join the team. In addition, Baek Seung-ho (26, Jeonbuk Hyundai) and Jung Woo-young (34, Alsad) are also out with injuries.
In their place, Won Doo-jae (26-Gimcheon Commerce) and Park Yong-woo (30-Ulsan Hyundai) will join the squad, but the only reliable card in terms of skill and experience is Hwang In-beom (27-Olympiakos). He is an expert midfielder who can hold up the midfield, coordinate the national team’s attack and defense, and boldly move the ball into the opposition’s half. He was trusted by former coach Paulo Bento (Portugal), and his position in the team hasn’t wavered since.
Whether it’s the national team or the club, he’s been called the “crown prince” no matter who’s in charge, and he feels the responsibility. He visited the Daejeon World Cup Stadium on the 4th to watch the Hana Citizen’s ‘Hana OneQ K League 1 2023’ home match against 먹튀검증 his hometown Daejeon, and expressed strong confidence in the offensive proclivities of ‘Clean Manho’. “A 4-3 win is better than a 1-0 win,” said Klinsmann, who has promised to win the 2023 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup in Qatar early next year.
“In the two games in March, we were very aggressive and conceded a lot of goals, but it was a really fun experience for me because I prefer to play aggressively. As we continue to play together, we will add balance and detail. We’re getting better and better and I believe we’re going to get stronger.”
‘Development’ and ‘growth’ are also key rationales for the transfer decision. The European summer transfer window hasn’t opened yet, but many teams have already shown direct or indirect interest. Happy to have completed the 2022-2023 season without any major injuries after playing the most games of his career leading up to the first-ever Winter World Cup, Hwang said, “It was a season of growth in many areas, starting with my physical condition. I grew up with a lot of love from Olympiacos. I’m ready to go anywhere if I get the chance, but I think I need to play high-level soccer wherever I go.”