The local football governing body on Wednesday set venues and kickoff times for two upcoming friendly matches.
The Korea Football Association announced that South Korea will host Brazil at 8 p.m. on Oct. 12 at Seoul World Cup Stadium.
Then on Oct. 15, it will bring Mali to Cheonan Sports Complex, about 90 kilometers south of Seoul, also for an 8 p.m. start.
The KFA first announced last Friday that South Korea will face the two countries. It said at the time the Brazil match could be held either on Oct. 11 or 12, and that it was still in talks with Mali on scheduling the match on Oct. 15.
FIFA has designated the Oct. 11-15 period as official international match days, and countries can schedule up to two games in that span.
The KFA had been seeking to schedule a match against Brazil, the five-time FIFA World Cup champion, since April this year.
Ranked ninth in the world, Brazil will host the World Cup finals next year.
In their four all-time meetings, Brazil holds a 3-1 edge over the 56th-ranked South Korea. In their last match at Seoul World Cup Stadium on Nov. 20, 2002, Brazil prevailed 3-2.
South Korea and Mali will meet for the first time. At No. 32 in the FIFA rankings, Mali has been eliminated from the second round in the African World Cup qualification.
South Korea has two friendly matches coming up in September ― against Haiti on Sept. 6 and Croatia on Sept. 10, both at home. In its latest friendly match on Aug. 14, South Korea played to a scoreless draw against Peru at home.
In four matches under Hong Myung-bo, who became the national team head coach in June, South Korea has managed three draws and one loss while scoring only one goal.
Two more international matches can be scheduled between Nov. 15 and 19 on the FIFA calendar. The KFA said last week South Korea will likely travel to Europe for two away matches against teams that win their groups in the European qualification for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. (Yonhap News)
