Oh Hyun-gyu-Hwang Hee-chan duo flanked by Lee Kang-in…Klinsmann’s dream lineup for Peru against Korea
One thing that stood out from the first practice was the two-on-two training.
The South Korean national soccer team (ranked 27th in FIFA), led by head coach Jürgen Klinsmann, will take on Peru (ranked 21st in FIFA) in a June A-match friendly at the Hana Bank Invitational. Klinsmann’s men will face Peru (FIFA ranked 21st) on June 16 at 8 p.m. at the Busan Asiad Stadium. They will face El Salvador (ranked 75th in FIFA) in the second match on June 20 at 8 p.m. at Daejeon World Cup Stadium.
Ahead of the matches, Klinsmann gathered his players at Gudeok Stadium in Busan on Dec. 12. This is the second call-up under Klinsmann. There are significant changes to the roster from the first call-up. Klinsmann, who was named head coach of the South Korean national soccer team in March, played the March A match within a month of his appointment. At the time, Klinsmann didn’t make any major changes to the roster from the World Cup, saying, “I will mainly select the players who participated in the World Cup in Qatar”.
While the roster was largely unchanged, the two March trials did reveal some of the differences under Paulo Bento. The biggest change was the use of Son Heung-min. In the last two matches against Colombia and Uruguay, the South Korean saw a lot of action in the center and half-space, rather than as a left wing-forward. He was able to move freely in the center of the field and in the half-space, much like the duo of Cho Kyu-sung and Hwang Eui-jo.
There were hints of the two-tops in the first training session of the June call-up. In the hour-long open training session, Klinsmann split the squad into two groups. Players who had played in the weekend’s K League games, such as Son Heung-min, focused on recovery training. Hwang Eui-jo, Cho Kyu-sung, Lee Ki-je, and Kim Jin-soo warmed up with a light run.
The other group practiced tactics. Here, they practiced two-top drills. Coach Klinsmann placed Oh Hyun-gyu and Hwang Hee-chan in the front line, with Moon Sun-min and Lee Kang-in on the left and right flanks for attacking drills. In the midfield, Hwang In-beom and Hong Hyun-seok teamed up. Park Ji-soo and Park Kyu-hyun were on the defense line with Kim Min-jae and Kim Young-kwon missing.
The two-man drill is likely to be a tactical hint for the upcoming two June A matches and the 2023 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup in Qatar. In fact, the June A matches and the September and November call-ups are all that’s left. For the rest of the year, it will be important to see which players and combinations fit into Klinsmann’s picture.
“We’ll see the players’ commitment and enthusiasm,” Klinsmann said. I want them to prove to me on the field how much they want to go to Qatar. It’s going to be important for me, the coaching staff, and the fans to see if the players show the desire, passion, and commitment to go to Qatar in these two games 메이저놀이터.”