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Korea’s head coach Hong Myung-bo takes part in a press conference in Seoul on Tuesday. (Yonhap News) |
South Korea will once again rely heavily on domestic league players in an upcoming friendly against Peru.
The Korea Football Association on Tuesday unveiled a 20-man roster for the match against Peru, with 13 players based in the K League Classic. The game will be held at 8 p.m. on Aug. 14 at Suwon World Cup Stadium, about 45 kilometers south of Seoul.
Last month, South Korea competed in the East Asian Cup with players from leagues in South Korea, China and Japan.
The situation handcuffed South Korean head coach Hong Myung-bo, who selected young and largely untested players to give them a chance to prove their worth.
With European seasons already underway or about to kick off, Hong called up 13 from the domestic league and seven from Japan’s J. League against Peru.
He named a pair of new attacking midfielders, hoping to add some spark to the offense after South Korea ended the East Asian Cup with just one goal in three games against Australia, China and Japan.
Lim Sang-hyub of Busan I’Park scored a hat-trick in a K League Classic game last Saturday and has joined the national team for the first time. Cho Chan-ho also scored three times for the Pohang Steelers on July 31. He has one international match under his belt.
“I chose players who are in good form in the domestic league,” Hong said. “I felt these new faces would help us address the problem we had on offense at the East Asian Cup.”
Hong has retained all but one defender from the East Asian Cup, and his midfield corps, aside from the addition of Lim and Cho, also remains virtually unchanged from the tournament.
“On defense, I think it was important to have some continuity and cohesion with the same group of players,” Hong explained. “And our defenders and midfielders didn’t have any problems at the East Asian Cup.”
Kim Young-gwon of Guangzhou Evergrande in China is the one defensive back missing after competing at the East Asian Cup. Hong said he left out Kim this time because his club plays only two days before the Peru friendly. (Yonhap News)
