On the 2nd of last month, when the September A-match was called up, only 19 people including Lee Jae-seong trained.
On the 2nd day, the 3rd, all European players including Son Heung-min were called up
A pre-training team meeting was planned, but postponed by a day due to fatigue
The Korean men’s national soccer team, led by coach Hong Myung-bo, took to the field as a full team for the first time on the second day of training. Even European players who joined late, such as Son Heung-min (Tottenham) and Lee Kang-in (Paris Saint-Germain), were all present.
Hong Myung-bo completed the second day of training in preparation for the September A-match at Goyang Stadium in Goyang-si, Gyeonggi-do at 7:00 PM on the 3rd.
Korea, ranked 23rd in the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) rankings, will play the first and second matches of the third round of qualifying for the 2026 FIFA North and Central America World Cup in Asia through A matches this September.
After having their first match against Palestine (FIFA ranking 96th) at 8 PM on the 5th at Seoul World Cup Stadium, they are scheduled to have their second match against Oman (FIFA ranking 76th) at 11 PM (Korean time) on the 10th at Sultan Qaboos Stadium in Muscat, Oman.
These are important matches for Korea’s soccer team as they look to advance to the World Cup finals for the 11th consecutive time. The first match against Palestine is particularly important.
Coach Hong, who took over the national team again after 10 years since the 2014 Brazil World Cup, also said on the 2nd, “Rather than saying it is an important match for me personally, I think it is an extremely important match for Korea right now. Since it is the third round of World Cup qualifiers, each match will ultimately determine whether Korea advances to the World Cup finals or not.”
Accordingly, Hong Myung-bo designed a flexible training schedule that all players could participate in.
On the first day of training, 19 players, including Lee Jae-seong (Mainz) and Um Ji-seong (Swansea City), who had finished their schedules early for their European teams, Jo Hyeon-woo and Joo Min-kyu (both from Ulsan HD), and players from Japan and the Middle East, trained.
Hwang Hee-chan (Wolverhampton) returned home today but missed training due to poor condition.
The remaining six players, including Son Heung-min, returned to Korea sequentially on the 3rd and participated in training on the 2nd day.
The training time was also changed from 5 PM to 7 PM so that all 26 players called up for the September A-match could participate together.
The Korea Football Association had also planned to hold a group meeting with the players before training, but it was postponed to the 4th due to factors such as the training time and the fatigue of the players entering the country.
The second day of training was conducted in a similar atmosphere to the first day, with the players’ bright expressions.
Before the start, Coach Hong gathered all the players and coaches together, stood in a circle, and announced the start of training with a short speech of about a minute.
Afterwards, all the players went for a run, and after a short run, they were divided into groups for a training session.
Joo Min-kyu, Jeong Seung-hyeon (Al Wasl), Park Yong-woo (Al Ain), and Jo Yu-min (Sharjah), who had been in good condition the day before and had been training normally, warmed up their bodies with high-intensity training.
The remaining 19 focused a little more on recovery through stretching.
Kim Min-jae and others, who usually boost morale during national team training, energized the team on this day as well by shouting their signature slogans.
The national team, which had been briefly divided into two groups to warm up, was then divided into a training group and a recovery group.
In the recovery group, the six European players who entered the country that day continued stretching in a separate space outside the ground.
The training team was divided into two groups and conducted tactical training. During this session, Joo Min-kyu, Jeong Seung-hyeon, Park Yong-woo, Jo Yu-min, and even the goalkeepers participated.
The recovery group was also divided into groups. Son Heung-min, Lee Kang-in, Kim Min-jae (Bayern Munich), Seol Young-woo (Zvezda), and Hwang In-beom (Feyenoord), who played in the game, rode a bike after stretching, while Lee Han-beom (Midtjylland) put on soccer cleats and exchanged passes with his coach on the field to improve his condition.
On this day, only the first 20 minutes of training were revealed to the media.
According to an official from the Korea Football Association, all 26 players will receive regular training during the official training held at Seoul World Cup Stadium on the 4th, the day before the game.
[고양=뉴시스]
2024-09-03 20:35:37