Hong Myung-boho's 8th ridge to North and Central America, Oman on the 20th
Hong Myung-boho's 8th ridge to North and Central America, Oman on the 20th
Blog Article
Hong Myung-bo, who has taken a stride to the World Cup finals, will play against Oman.
The South Korean national soccer team, led by head coach Hong Myung-bo, will play the seventh game of the third Asian qualifying round for the "2026 North-China World Cup" against Oman at Goyang Stadium in Gyeonggi Province on March 20.
Korea ranks first in Group B with four wins, two draws and 14 points in six matches. It is three points ahead of second-ranked Iraq (3 wins, two draws and one loss and 11 points). In the third qualifying round, the top and second-ranked teams in the group will advance to the World Cup finals. As the score gap with third-ranked Jordan (two wins, three draws and one loss and nine points) has widened to five points already, there is a possibility that the team will advance to the finals early during the A-match period in March.
This time, Oman is fourth in the group with two wins, four losses and six points. It is 80th in FIFA rankings, which is inferior to South Korea, which is 23rd. In the previous away match in Oman, South Korea won 3-1 with goals from Hwang Hee-chan, Son Heung-min and Joo Min-kyu. However, Oman also advanced to the final by winning against Qatar and Saudi Arabia in the Arabian Gulf Cup held in December. Hong Myung-bo must not let down his guard as there are many unexpected events in the third qualifying round in Asia, with Qatar and Iran failing to beat North Korea and Australia struggling with one win in six games.
Team Korea led by Coach Hong Myung-bo focused on European players rather than the K-League players. Along with Son Heung-min (Tottenham Hotspur), Lee Kang-in (Paris Saint-Germain), Lee Jae-seong (Mainz), and Hwang Hee-chan (Wolverhampton), Bae Joon-ho (Stock City), Um Ji-sung (Swansea City), Yang Min-hyuk (Queens Park Rangers), and Yang Hyun-joon (Celtic), the team's young and dynamic second-tier players have been selected. The team aims to sway Oman's defense, which has had many goals in recent A-match games.
Coach Hong Myung-bo said at a press conference on the 10th that he did not select many K-League midfielders, "It's not that European players are definitely better. I also observed a lot of K-League because it's a way to choose K-League players considering the overall time difference and condition," but added, "I saw a little change from last year. I saw unnecessary actions and ball touches. I saw some things that I couldn't do in a situation where I could go out faster." This is a statement that gives a glimpse of the attacking pattern that head coach Hong Myung-bo is pursuing. 바카라사이트
Meanwhile, the match will be held at Goyang Stadium. Critics pointed out that the grass condition at the Seoul World Cup Stadium is not suitable for national team level matches. As a result, the two A-Match home games will be held in Goyang and Suwon. During the A-Match period in November, Korea played A-Match at Yongin Mir Stadium rather than at Seoul World Cup Stadium.