adminKlinsmann’s squad gathers in Busan for June A matches
The South Korean national soccer team, led by head coach Jürgen Klinsmann, will convene in Busan on June 12 and begin training at Gudeok Stadium.
South Korea, ranked 27th in the FIFA rankings, will play Peru (21st) at 8 p.m. on June 16 at the Busan Asiad Stadium before facing El Salvador (75th) at 8 p.m. on June 20 at the Daejeon World Cup Stadium.
Korea has never won a match against Peru, with a 1-1 draw, and this will be the first meeting between the two teams.
This is the second call-up for Klinsmann, who took over the reins of the South Korean national team on Feb. 27.
In his first call-up in March, Klinsmann played hot attacking soccer against Colombia (2-2 draw) and Uruguay (1-2 loss).
However, due to the lack of time to get to know the players since his arrival, the squad was largely composed of members of the Qatar 2022 World Cup Round of 16 and did not wear Klinsmann’s colors.
So while this June’s call-up will be Klinsmann’s second, it’s effectively his first with his hand-picked squad.
On June 5, Klinsmann announced a total of 23 players for the June call-up, with Ahn Hyun-beom (Jeju), Hong Hyun-seok (Ghent) and Park Yong-woo (Ulsan) earning their first caps.
Multi-faceted midfielder Won Doo-jae (Gimcheon) earned his first call-up to the A squad in nearly two years, while Son Jun-ho (Taishan, Shandong), who was arrested by Chinese police and is being investigated in custody, was also named.
Eyes turn to the back line. Unlike the forward line, which hasn’t seen much change with the likes of Son Heung-min (Tottenham), Lee Kang-in (Mallorca), and Hwang Eui-jo (Seoul), the national team’s back line has seen less change.
Kim Min-jae (Napoli) and Kim Young-kwon (Ulsan), two of the national team’s most consistent center backs, departed at the same time.
Kim, who won the Italian Serie A’s best defender award after leading Napoli to its first league title in 33 years, was unable to join the squad due to military training.
Veteran defender Kim Young-kwon is rehabbing from a hamstring injury.
In the absence of the two key defenders, Klinsmann opted for Kim Joo-sung (Seoul) alongside Park Ji-soo (Portimonense) and Kwon Kyung-won (Gambaosaka).
While Park and Kwon are defenders who were often called upon under former coach Paulo Bento, Kim is a rookie with just one A-match appearance to his name. 메이저사이트
She made her A-match debut at the East Asian Cup last July.
With Klinsmann desperate for his first win, he will most likely go with the Park Ji-soo-Kwon combination, but there is a chance that Kim could be a surprise call-up.
Kim made his debut for FC Seoul in 2019 and has played 17 games in the K League 1 this season. He is tall and has good build-up ability.
Meanwhile, it will be about three years and six months since Busan hosted the E-1 Championship (East Asian Cup) in December 2019.