Baghdad – IA
Football specialists expected that our national team would achieve a positive result today, Tuesday, against its South Korean counterpart in the Asian qualifiers for the World Cup (2026), despite the difficulty of the match and the strength of the opposing team.
The former Al-Minaa star and current Asian lecturer, Aqeel Hato, said in a statement to Al-Sabah newspaper – followed by the (INA): “The match will be very difficult, because the Korean team is the direct competitor for the top spot in the group and performed well in its recent matches, indicating that the match will be held on its home soil.” And among his fans, he can deal with the teams of his group, and he has high-level players, most of whom are active with teams that play in European competitions.”
He added, “There are other roles that will be given to the right-backs, Hussein Ali, and the left-back, Mirkhas Doski, along with the midfield trio consisting of Amir Al-Amari, Amjad Atwan, and Ibrahim Bayesh, who will also be assigned defensive duties, to limit the danger of the opponent, with the possibility of benefiting from the movements and starts of Ali Jassim, Youssef Al-Amin, and Ayman.” Hussein knocked the opponent’s goal with a surprise goal that confuses his calculations.”
In addition, coach Salem Odeh renewed his confidence in the Spanish coach and his vision in managing the match and coming out with a draw point at the very least, with the importance of our team remaining in competition with the Korean team after Jordan stumbled, provided that many of the technical problems that accompanied the performance of the Al-Rafidain Lions battalion in recent matches were solved. He called on Coach Casas to address the problems of building attacks from the back, in addition to rebounds, possession of the ball, applying forward pressure, playing deep and on the flanks, activating tight spaces, and supporting the full-backs and set pieces.”
In turn, goalkeeping expert and coach working in Qatar, Suhail Saber, believes that “resolving the next match for our team brings them very close to qualifying for the World Cup finals against the Korean team with a positive result despite the difficulty of the match,” reiterating his confidence in our Lions in winning the match, provided that it is read correctly before. Coach Casas and staying away from the idea of betting on the equalizer point, adding that the shared history between the two teams favors our team on more than one occasion and that the competitor will take a thousand counts against us and that this point would generate psychological pressure on the hosts, renewing his confidence in goalkeeper Jalal Hassan, who shone. “In the past three matches, he will be at his peak in the upcoming confrontation in order to win the three points and hold on to the top of the group.”
In turn, coach Haider Yahya believes that “our national team did not perform at its usual level despite winning the match against Palestine with a clean goal,” explaining that the problems of our team lie in the tools, employment, and defensive aspect, even though our net is still clean so far, in addition to the absence of the mark that we were waiting for from Casas. At the same time, he warned against resorting to defensive plans from the beginning against Korea, as it means surrender, and it is not possible to withstand Samson’s pressure throughout the two halves of the match, with the importance of counterattacking with four players, in addition to the presence of Ayman Hussein in front, which is a balanced method in order to reduce the pressure on the players in the hope of achieving victory. Or a draw in light of the good names available.”
For his part, football coach Hamid Salman says: “There is no doubt that the task of our national team is very difficult because the Korean competitor wants to resolve the issue of qualification early by seeking to top the group, taking advantage of its stadium, its fans, and the seven points it currently has in its possession, in addition to overtaking the other teams.” Others in the upcoming meetings.”