World Cup Round of 16 members

Son Heung-min, Kim Min-jae, and Lee Kang-in are the main "World Cup Round of 16 members"…Using existing resources without selecting a replacement for Hwang Ui-jo

[Sunday Newspaper] The list of the national soccer team that will run toward the top of Asia has been revealed. The national team, which aims to win the Asian Cup for the first time in 64 years, will have 26 entries in the tournament. Captain Son Heung-min, Kim Min-jae and Lee Kang-in, who have recently been the main players in the national team, were listed as they are.

#The list of 26 people who didn't have an accident

Jürgen Klinsmann has been making public the roster of his national team in writing without holding a press conference. However, he had a special event to announce the roster ahead of the Asian Cup. The Korea Football Association made public its squad for the Asian Cup at the Yongsan CGV in Seoul on the morning of Dec. 28, and even prepared a Q&A session with Klinsmann.

The 26-member roster was mostly evaluated as having "no major upsets." With many of the national team's key players active overseas, not many expected that the team would be selected as a surprise among domestic resources. Previously, the team announced its training list for the year-end domestic call-up. There was no such incident on the list of K-League players.

The entry is not much different from the 2022 Qatar World Cup, when it was the third time in history to reach the round of 16. Goalkeeper Kim Seung-gyu, defenders Kim Young-kwon and Kim Min-jae, midfielders Lee Jae-sung, Hwang In-beom and Lee Kang-in's strikers, and Son Heung-min and Cho Kyu-sung also played key roles in the World Cup. Jung Seung-hyun, Park Yong-woo, Lee Soon-min and Oh Hyun-kyu, who were not on the World Cup list, will have a chance.

Since his appointment, Coach Klinsmann has announced his plan for the Asian Cup with eight friendly matches and two qualifying matches for the 2026 North and Central U.S. World Cup. Kim Seung-gyu, the main goalkeeper, will form a defense team of Kim Jin-soo, Kim Min-jae, Jung Seung-hyun and Seol Young-woo. It seems likely that Park Yong-woo, Hwang In-beom, and Lee Jae-sung will be given the center field and Hwang Hee-chan, Son Heung-min, Cho Kyu-sung and Lee Kang-in will be on the offensive.

MBC Sports Plus commentator Lee Sang-yoon said, "The big frame is maintained. The list is predictable and does not change much," adding, "This means that the national team has stabilized its capacity. As we have been working together for a long time, it may also have an advantage in terms of teamwork."

#Hwang Ui-jo's vacuum is an existing resource

Manager Klinsmann explained about the team and mentioned "external factors." He explained that there was a player who could not select the team due to external factors while setting up the list of players he wanted. The main characters were Hwang Ui-jo and Son Joon-ho. 슬롯

Son Joon-ho, who was active in China, was arrested and arrested by Chinese authorities on bribery charges. Since it has been an incident since May, there was time to prepare for it as a national team. Park Yong-woo and Lee Soon-min were given a chance in the third-term area where he was missing, and headed to the Asian Cup under the trust of the coach.

The problem was Hwang Ui-jo, who is suspected of illegal filming. Hwang was excluded from the starting lineup since the last World Cup, but he was one of the first resources to be selected when using a substitute card. As a substitute under coach Klinsmann, he scored three goals in nine matches. However, he was excluded from the national team due to allegations of illegal filming on the verge of the Asian Cup.

Attention was focused on the national team's response. There was no opportunity to test Hwang Ui-jo's absence. In the end, coach Klinsmann chose not to select a separate alternative resource. Hwang Ui-jo, Cho Kyu-sung and Oh Hyun-kyu filled the list of strikers, which had been selected continuously, with only the other two without Hwang Ui-jo.

With Son Heung-min playing as the center of the attack under the current national team system, Hwang Ui-jo has been on the ground, mainly replacing Son Heung-min's central attack partner Cho Kyu-sung. With no alternative resources selected, Oh Hyun-kyu is expected to have more opportunities. In addition, the national team has a number of resources to play as a striker, although its main position is Hwang Hee-chan and Jung Woo-young. Some midfielders, including Lee Jae-sung and Lee Kang-in, have also played in striker positions from time to time.

Commentator Lee Sang-yoon expressed regret over the lack of availability of Joo Min-gyu, who is considered the best striker in Korea. "I had high expectations for selection before, but I was not given a chance again this time. This seems to be a resource that can be beneficial to the national team, but it is the coach's authority to select players. The view varies from person to person," he said. "Although Hwang Ui-jo is said to be lacking, there is no shortage of strikers due to the current composition of the national team. I understand why we are not selecting new resources." "I don't think we should mention Joo Min-gyu anymore when talking about the national team. He must be under a lot of stress as well." Joo Min-gyu has recorded the most consistent scoring pace with 56 goals in the league alone over the past three years including this season.

#19-year-old newcomer joins

Future resources will also be included in the upcoming event. Unlike the 23 members of the Asian Cup team four years ago, the number of entries for this year's event has been expanded to 26. Newcomers Yang Hyun-joon was born in 2002 and Kim Ji-soo was born in 2004.

Yang was also on the national team roster when he was a former coach Paulo Bento. However, he was not given a chance to play in matches and was not selected for the World Cup entry. Since moving his performance to Europe last summer, he has been called upon by Coach Klinsmann. He even made his A-match debut in an away warm-up match in Europe and a match against Wales.

Kim Ji-soo is a young player who was a high school student until last year when she was in her professional debut season. She garnered great attention as a prospect by signing a semi-professional contract and continuing her performance in the K-League stage. In May, she joined the national team by age and played a key role in advancing to the U-20 World Cup, where she played a key role in advancing to the semifinals.

Since then, Kim Ji-soo has been recognized for his performance on the adult stage and his performance on the U-20 World Cup stage, and moved to Brentford and advanced to the English Premier League. Since his transfer, he has been playing in only B team matches, but has been assigned a uniform number (No. 36) and participated in the first-team training, revealing his prospects. In the first-team matches, he was only selected as bench resources in three matches, but failed to play on the field.

"I was glad to hear that the number of entries will increase from 23 to 26. I decided that it could be an opportunity for future resources," Klinsmann said of Kim. "Kim is a player who can do a lot for Korean soccer. I discussed with the coaching staff that I should also recruit players who will grow for the future, and I eventually selected them."