'Good form K Leaguer → World Cup competitiveness UP'...The Iraq expedition was reaffirmed, and the same is true a year later
'Good form K Leaguer → World Cup competitiveness UP'...The Iraq expedition was reaffirmed, and the same is true a year later
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The "K-League with good form" has set the stage for the 11th consecutive World Cup finals in Korea. Plan B is not simply a success. It was an opportunity to realize once again how important the K-League's condition, which is in the midst of a season to increase its competitiveness in the World Cup finals a year later, is.
The national soccer team, led by head coach Hong Myung-bo, won 2-0 with consecutive shots by Kim Jin-kyu (Jeonbuk Hyundai) and Oh Hyun-kyu (Henk), who were substituted in the second half, in Group B of the third Asian qualifying round for the 2026 North-China World Cup at Basra International Stadium in Basra, Iraq on the 6th (Korea time).
South Korea, which secured 19 points (5 wins and 4 draws), maintained a three-point gap with second-place Jordan (16 points). In addition, it widened the gap with third-place Iraq (12 points) to 7 points, and held a ticket to the finals, which will be given up to the second place in the group, regardless of the result of Kuwait (Seoul), the last match of the third qualifying round on the 10th. It was a feat achieved in an away match in the Middle East, which was more difficult than ever, including the heat that soared to 45 degrees Celsius during the day and the unstable situation in Iraq.
It's K Leaguer who played the role of a hero. Concerned about the uneven condition of the main European team that finished the spring season ahead of the away match in Iraq, Hong focused his efforts on selecting the K-League player, who will serve as a substitute. In particular, Son Heung-min (Tottenham Hotspur), the "captain" and the core of the team's offense, has not fully recovered from the foot injury he suffered at the end of the season. Hwang Hee-chan (Wolverhampton) spent less time playing in his team, raising a question mark over his performance.
However, a "minimum level of experience" is needed ahead of a serious competition. With the call-up of the European leagues, the three leaders (Jeon Jin-woo, Kim Jin-kyu and Park Jin-seop) who will lead the K-League 1 with Jeonbuk Hyundai, and Moon Seon-min (FC Seoul), who has emerged as the best joker, were selected as the "K-League Card" that will seek to turn around their performance.
It hit the bull's eye. After Son Heung-min was excluded from the roster in the match against Iraq, Hwang Hee-chan started as winger, but his performance fell short of expectations. In the first half, an opponent team sent off, giving him a numerical advantage, but his team failed to display a cool shot. At the beginning of the second half, Hong excluded defensive midfielder Park Yong-woo (Al-Ain) and deployed attack-oriented midfielder Kim Jin-kyu. He sent out Moon Seon-min instead of Hwang Hee-chan in the 15th minute of the second half. Consequently, starting with Moon's left cross three minutes later, Kim Jin-kyu scored the first goal with his right foot. Afterwards, Jeon Jin-woo also stepped on the ground, and in the 37th minute of the second half, he assisted Oh Hyun-kyu's wedge shot and threw a "KO punch" to Iraq.
It is very important for European players to play on the big stage in their competitiveness to advance to the World Cup finals. However, they should be harmonized with the K-League, which has good performance to increase the possibility of achieving the desired goal. There is always a dilemma of conditions among European players heading to the World Cup finals as their "body that finished the season." The same applies to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, which marked the second time in history that the team has advanced to the round of 16 best teams in an away match. At that time, Son Heung-min suffered an orbital fracture at the end of the season and wore a protective shield to his face, making the team uncomfortable. Hwang Ui-jo (Alania Spor), the main scorer, was not in 100 percent of his condition.
It was the K Leaguer who saved the national team. Cho Kyu-sung (Mit Willan), who showed off his strong sense of goal for Jeonbuk at the time, scored multiple goals in the second group match against Ghana. In the final match (2-1 win) with Portugal, which confirmed its advance to the round of 16, Kim Young-kwon of Ulsan showed an equalizer. The only player who scored a goal in the round of 16 with Brazil (loss of 1-4) was Baek Seung-ho (Birmingham City) of Jeonbuk.
The North Korea-China competition will also be in sync a year later. It is hard to guarantee 100 percent of the European players' conditions. K Leaguer's performance as a "seasonal body" could determine Hong's fate. Therefore, more in-depth observations are needed.
Meanwhile, Hong Myung-bo returned home shortly after winning the match against Iraq, rested on the 7th, and resumed training at Paju NFC on the 8th, two days before the match against Kuwait. It is the first time in 19 months that the A team has trained at Paju NFC since November 2023 under Jurgen Klinsmann's system.
Paju NFC, dubbed the cradle of Korean soccer, has served as a home for more than 20 years as the Korea Football Association (KFA) signed a free lease contract with Paju City and used it as a training and lodging space for the national team by age for more than 20 years. Then, it left in January last year due to the expiration of its contract, and KFA is building a soccer center four times the size of Paju NFC in Cheonan City, Chungcheongnam-do. 메이저사이트
In the meantime, I trained mainly at Goyang Stadium when I played A matches in Seoul, but this time, I returned to Paju NFC due to the overlapping schedule of various events. The ground was neglected for a long time, but the quality grass caught my eye as the Paju Citizens' Soccer Team of the K3 League used it.