Positions that made it difficult to form the final World Cup entry
Kim Jin-soo, Kim Moon-hwan, and other key players in their 30s,
discovering young blood with both offense and defense ‘homework’
Jurgen Klinsmann, coach of the Korean national soccer team, will make his Korean debut in two consecutive A-matches on the 24th (Colombia) and 28th (Uruguay). Coach Klinsman, who arrived in Korea on the 8th and started working in earnest starting with an official press conference on the 9th, announced the 26-member national team list on the 13th.예스벳 토토
Most of the list are players who participated in the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar held last year. Except for Oh Hyeon-gyu (Celtic), who was not included in the final entry for the World Cup, but who was with him until the end in Qatar, only one person was newly named, and that is left-back fullback Lee Ki-je (Suwon Samsung). Yoon Jong-kyu (Gimcheon) and Hong-cheol (Daegu) were injured.
From here, it can be guessed that the concerns about the fullback, which has been steadily going on since the former manager Paulo Bento, will be a big task in the Klinsman manager system. It’s okay right now, but it seems that the generational change of fullbacks aimed at the 2026 World Cup in North and Central America will emerge as coach Klinsman’s top priority.
The fullback resources in this list are Kim Jin-soo, Kim Moon-hwan (above Jeonbuk), Kim Tae-hwan (Ulsan), and Lee Ki-je. Kim Jin-soo and Lee Ki-je are on the left, Kim Tae-hwan and Kim Moon-hwan are on the right.
Kim Tae-hwan, born in 1989, Lee Ki-je, born in 1991, and Kim Jin-su, born in 1992, are now in their 30s. Kim Moon-hwan, born in 1995, is also about to enter his 30s. There is no doubt about the current skills of Jeonbuk’s left and right wings Kim Jin-su and Kim Moon-hwan, Ulsan’s defensive axis Kim Tae-hwan, and last season’s K-League 1 assist king Lee Ki-je, but whether they will be able to perform as well 3 years after the World Cup opens Doubtful.
Although coach Klinsmann had the peculiarity of having to announce the list just five days after coming to Korea, it is not certain whether he could have made a different decision even if he had had ample preparation time.
This is due to the lack of fullback resources in Korean football both domestically and internationally.
The importance of the fullback in modern football is indescribable.
Following the active overlapping in attack as well as defense, which is the basic, we have now reached the level of finishing. It’s an important position, but there are few young and talented fullbacks in Korean football.
Even when Bento was coaching, the fullback was always a concern. Coach Bento waited until the end for Kim Jin-soo, who was exhausted and injured ahead of the World Cup, and picked three right-back fullbacks who could not guarantee starting positions. Hyeon-gyu Oh and Kang-in Lee (Mallorca) have emerged as promising resources in the attacking camp, In-beom Hwang (Olympiacos) has also proven his ability, and Min-jae Kim (Napoli) has become the core of the defense. invisible Coach Klinsmann accepted a difficult homework with his appointment.