The midfield engine was replaced before the start of the game. Will Klinsmann be able to pick up the pace against Tunisia?
The Korean national soccer team, led by coach Jurgen Klinsmann, will play a friendly match against Tunisia at the Seoul World Cup Stadium at 8 p.m. on the 13th.
Tunisia’s FIFA ranking is 29th, three places lower than Korea, which is 26th. Tunisia has 2 wins and 1 draw in the last 3 games. After drawing 1-1 with Algeria in a friendly, they won 3-0 against Botswana in the African Cup of Nations qualifiers and won 3-1 against Egypt.
Coach Klinsmann must capture both content and results in this October’s international match. This is because it is effectively the last international match period before the AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023, which will be held in January 2024. There are World Cup Asian qualifiers in November, but we have to show results now.
Coach Klinsmann, who took over from coach Paulo Bento in March, failed to win in his first five games. In the first international match in March, they drew 2-2 against Colombia and lost 1-2 to Uruguay.
When they met in June, they lost 0-1 to Peru and drew 1-1 with El Salvador. They drew 0-0 with Wales when they met in September. The first win was against Saudi Arabia immediately after the match against Wales. At that time, Korea won with Cho Kyu-sung’s winning goal in the 32nd minute of the first half, securing their first victory since coach Klinsmann took over.
However, there were many criticisms regarding the content. In particular, the starting team members, including Son Heung-min, Hwang Hee-chan, Lee Kang-in, and Kim Min-jae, are showing good performances in Europe as well, so efforts were required.
After the Tunisia match, Korea will face Vietnam at Suwon World Cup Stadium on the 17th. Since they are a relative underdog, the match against Tunisia can only be seen as a very important testing stage ahead of the Asian Cup.
In addition, the controversy over the mistreatment of European players such as Son Heung-min and Kim Min-jae is also a burden. Tottenham coach Angie Postecoglou personally revealed Son Heung-min’s minor injury and asked him to take care of it.
Coach Klinsmann seemed to be conscious of public opinion and gave Son Heung-min a break. Here, there was a somewhat unexpected change in the starting list that day. Initially, Klinsmann played in a 4-4-2 and formed a combination of Park Yong-woo and Hwang In-beom in the midfield.
However, an injury occurred during warm-up. KFA said, “Hwang In-beom, who was scheduled to start as a starter, felt discomfort in his left adductor muscle during warm-up and was replaced by Hong Hyun-seok after discussion as it would be difficult for him to play full-time.”
Hwang In-beom, who was in the starting lineup, appears to have suffered an injury during preparation for the game. However, the injury itself is not expected to be serious as it occurred during warm-up. Still, Klinsmann, who had consistently used Hwang In-beom, was suddenly in a situation where he had to test another plan.
The player selected that way was Hong Hyun-seok. After his strong performance at the Asian Games, he also made his debut as a starter against Wales during the A-match last September. Hong Hyun-seok, who played with Hwang In-beom at the time, played in the central midfielder position in this game. Klinsmann’s formation also changed as Hong Hyun-seok replaced Hwang In-beom.안전놀이터
With the Tunisia match in progress, Klinsmann is playing close to 4-1-4-1. Park Yong-woo sits down further and focuses on protecting the back four, while Hong Hyun-seok participates more aggressively. Attention is being paid to what results these changes in the Klinsmann will lead to.