S. Korea to host UAE in World Cup qualifier sans key veterans

유지호 / 2021-11-10 08:00:10

S Korea-World Cup qualifier

▲ Members of the South Korean men's national football team warm up before the start of their training session at the National Football Center in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, on Nov. 8, 2021. (Yonhap)

▲ Paulo Bento, head coach of the South Korean men's national football team, kicks the ball during a training session at the National Football Center in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, on Nov. 8, 2021. (Yonhap)

▲ Members of the South Korean men's national football team train at the National Football Center in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, on Nov. 8, 2021. (Yonhap)

S Korea-World Cup qualifier

S. Korea to host UAE in World Cup qualifier sans key veterans

By Yoo Jee-ho

SEOUL, Nov. 10 (Yonhap) -- South Korea will try to soldier on without important veterans as the final stage of their World Cup qualifying round reaches its midway point this week.

Coached by Paulo Bento, the 35th-ranked South Korea will take on No. 71 UAE at Goyang Stadium in Goyang, just northwest of Seoul, at 8 p.m. Thursday.

It will be the fifth out of 10 matches for South Korea in Group A of the final Asian qualifying round for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

South Korea are currently in second place in the group with eight points from two wins and two draws. Iran are the group leaders with 10 points.

This will be the first meeting between South Korea and the UAE in the final round, and their 20th head-to-head match overall. South Korea have 12 wins, five draws and two losses so far.

The UAE are winless in Group A with three draws and one loss, and South Korea should have little trouble getting past them. But this is also precisely the kind of matchup that has given South Korea fits -- against a pesky underdog team with nothing to lose -- and South Korea have sometimes played down to the level of their competition.

South Korea's attacking unit will be without striker Hwang Ui-jo, who recently suffered a hamstring injury while playing for his French club, FC Girondins de Bordeaux. Hwang leads all South Korean players with 13 goals since Bento took the national team reins in August 2018.

In his absence, Bento will rely on the likes of Son Heung-min and Hwang Hee-chan. The two Premier Leaguers are listed as midfielders for the national team and are certainly more than capable of finding the back of the net.

Son, in particular, has scored in each of his past two international matches.

On defense, South Korea will miss center back Kim Young-gwon, out with a calf injury. He and Kim Min-jae have formed an effective tandem at the heart of South Korea's defense, and now Bento will have to find a new partner for Kim Min-jae, easily the country's most imposing defender with underrated offensive skills to boot.

The problem is compounded by lack of training time for Kim Min-jae and whoever ends up being his new center back partner. After playing for his Turkish club Fenerbahce over the weekend, Kim only joined the national team Tuesday, one day after training camp opened, and won't have a full practice session until Wednesday afternoon, about 24 hours before facing the UAE.

But these issues haven't fazed Bento, who said Monday, the first day of training camp, that he wouldn't make excuses and would instead try to find best solutions without the two players.

This match will take place in front of a fully open Goyang Stadium, the first national team football match without crowd restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic. The stadium sits about 35,000 and the Korea Football Association (KFA) is hoping that more than 20,000 supporters will show up.

Fans must either be fully vaccinated or have tested negative for the virus within 48 hours of the match. Those under 18 can attend without being fully vaccinated with a proper ID, because the vaccination rate in their age group remains low at the moment.

People who haven't been vaccinated for medical reasons must present a doctor's note before entering the stadium.

The top two nations from each of the two groups will earn automatic berths for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. The two third-place teams will meet in a playoff, and the winner will go on to compete in the last-chance intercontinental playoff.

South Korea have played at every World Cup since 1986.

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