Hong Myung-baek captain Son Heung-min returns for the second leg of the Middle East trip
Hong Myung-baek captain Son Heung-min returns for the second leg of the Middle East trip
Blog Article
Captain Son Heung-min returned to the squad after missing last month's A-Match with a thigh injury.
In addition to the return of Oh Hyun-kyu, Oh Se-hoon and Bae Jun-ho, who all played in last month's A-Match, four newcomers were named to the squad for the first time, including Lee Eun-yong's son Lee Tae-seok (Pohang) and goalkeepers Kim Kyung-min (Gwangju), Kim Bong-soo (Gimcheon) and Lee Hyun-joo (Hannover 96).
Head coach Hong Myung-bo announced his 26-man squad for the fifth and sixth matches of the third Asian qualifying round for the 2026 North and Central American World Cup at the Football Hall this morning (April 4).
One of the most interesting aspects of Hong's roster announcement was the return of Son Heung-min.
Son had been out of the Tottenham lineup since September when he was substituted after suffering a thigh strain in a Europa League home match against Qarabag, and he was also left out of the October A-Match squad as he focused on his recovery. Son then registered a comeback goal against West Ham on November 19, but the injury flared up again and he returned to the starting lineup for yesterday's home game against Aston Villa, just over a month later, registering an assist.
“Everyone saw that Son Heung-min played yesterday and came back, but he still has two games left at Tottenham before he is called up, and we'll have to see how much playing time he gets there,” said Hong Myung-bo.
“I don't think we should put too much pressure on the national team just because Son Heung-min has played a game. We are open to adjusting his playing time (in the national team) depending on how many minutes he plays in the next game, and we have other options for the same position, just like we did last month.”
Forward Lee Young-joon (Grasshopper) and midfielder Won Doo-jae (Korpakan Club), who are playing in the Middle East, were not included in the call-up, 파워볼사이트 as Hong reportedly met with them in person while traveling in Europe and the Middle East.
“In the case of Lee Young-joon, we checked him twice with Coach João and concluded that it's too early for him to be in the national team, while Won Doo-jae is an immediate impact player, but we need to wait and see how he adjusts to his new team,” Hong explained.
The November A-Match roster has nine changes compared to last month's A-Match call-up. First, Hwang Hee-chan and Uhm Ji-sung were left out of the squad after pulling out of last month's match against Jordan due to injury, while Kim Seung-kyu was also unable to join the squad due to a recent injury at his club.
Goalkeeper Kim Kyung-min (Gwangju), Lee Tae-seok (Pohang), Kim Bong-soo (Gimcheon), and Lee Hyun-joo (Hannover 96) are the four newcomers to the squad.
“Kim Bong-soo has been playing consistently since the start of the league, while Lee Tae-seok found his position and felt comfortable in the last game against Seoul,” said Hong.
“Hannover's Lee Hyun-ju has been playing consistently and his performance is improving, and he is the type of player we don't have in the national team right now. In these two games, I think we're going to be defending a little bit lower, and she's the type of player who doesn't need that space, so we thought she was a good fit.”
Hong Myung-bok will face Kuwait in their fifth group game at 11 p.m. KST on June 14 before traveling to Amman, Jordan, for their sixth game against Palestine on June 19 at 11 p.m. KST.
Currently, the national team is leading Group B of the North and Central American World Cup Asia Zone Third Qualifying Round with three wins and one draw (10 points). With back-to-back wins in their next two games in the Middle East, they will qualify directly for the World Cup in Group 9.