South Korean men's football roster for this year's FIFA World Cup will be announced earlier than scheduled, the sport's national governing body said Friday.
The Korea Football Association said the 23-man roster for the big tournament in Brazil will be revealed Thursday, a day earlier than initially scheduled. The KFA explained that the change is designed to give players more time to prepare themselves mentally before reporting to their training camp on May 12 at the National Football Center in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, north of Seoul.
South Korea has been paired with Algeria, Belgium and Russia in Group H at the June 12-July 13 tournament. At 56th on the FIFA world rankings, South Korea is the lowest-ranked nation among the four. Belgium is No. 12, followed by Russia at No. 18 and Algeria at No. 25.
It will be South Korea's eighth consecutive appearance in the World Cup.
South Korea is expected to have a few players missing at the start of the camp. Those based in Europe will have finished their seasons and the domestic K League Classic will enter a break ahead of the World Cup after matches on May 11. South Korea may also name players based in China and Japan, where teams will play until after the start of the South Korean training before their World Cup break.
South Korean head coach Hong Myung-bo has chosen not to announce the 30-man provisional roster and will reveal the final team only, the KFA said.
South Korea will host Tunisia on May 28 in Seoul in its final pre-World Cup match at home. It will fly to Miami two days later to set up a camp there before flying to Brazil on June 12, five days before the opening match against Russia. (Yonhap)
