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| ▲ Paulo Bento (C), head coach of the South Korean men's national football team, addresses his players during practice at a facility in Yokohama, Japan, on March 23, 2021, in this photo provided by the Korea Football Association. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
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| ▲ Paulo Bento (C), head coach of the South Korean men's national football team, addresses his players during practice at a facility in Yokohama, Japan, on March 23, 2021, in this photo provided by the Korea Football Association. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
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| ▲ Members of the South Korean men's national football team train at a facility in Yokohama, Japan, on March 23, 2021, in preparation for a friendly match against Japan. (Yonhap) |
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| ▲ Paulo Bento, head coach of the South Korean men's national football team, kicks the ball during practice at a facility in Yokohama, Japan, on March 23, 2021. (Yonhap) |
football coach-match
S. Korea nat'l football coach not making excuses ahead of friendly vs. Japan
By Yoo Jee-ho
SEOUL, March 24 (Yonhap) -- South Korea men's national football head coach Paulo Bento could be forgiven for thinking he's been dealt a bad hand ahead of a friendly match against Japan, but he said Wednesday he won't make excuses.
To wit: Bento will be without his captain and most gifted offensive player, Son Heung-min. The dynamic attacker for Tottenham Hotspur has been sidelined with a hamstring injury.
In addition to Son, other national team mainstays either have been cut from the squad or never got the call-up because of their own health issues and COVID-19 quarantine rules in the home countries of their clubs. Bento could have assembled a competitive team with the players that aren't currently in Japan.
At a prematch press conference on the eve of the rival match, Bento said he'll do the best he can with the players that he has.
"Not all matches can be played under the same conditions, and we're in a particularly different situation now," Bento said in a Zoom session with the media. The match will kick off at 7:20 p.m. Thursday at Nissan Stadium in Yokohama, south of Tokyo.
"Despite obvious difficulties that we've dealt with, we'll do the best we can under the circumstances," Bento added. "We'll try to stick to our style of play and bring home the result that we want."
It's the 80th match between the two rivals, and their first since December 2019. South Korea have posted 42 wins, 23 draws and 14 losses so far, and are undefeated in their last three meetings with two wins and a draw.
Bento said he won't get caught up in the rivalry hype.
"We want to focus on things we can do, and try to predict how the opponents will play and then prepare accordingly," the coach said. "We understand the significance of this rival match. We want to leave an impression on everyone that we were well prepared for this contest."
Bento said Japan, ranked 11 spots ahead of South Korea at No. 27, are a team with "many strengths."
"They apply strong pressure and they're capable of mounting effective counterattacks," Bento said. "We have to find holes in their game that we can exploit."
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