With the addition of Baek Seung-ho (Birmingham) and Jung Ho-yeon (Gwangju FC), the competition for the midfield of the Korean national soccer team, led by Hwang Sun-hong, the 23-year-old (U-23), who has decided to temporarily serve as the head coach, is expected to intensify.
Hwang Sun-hong will convene in preparation for the March A match at Goyang Stadium in the afternoon of the 18th.
Hwang, who took the role of a firefighter due to the replacement of former coach Jurgen Klinsmann (Germany), will be in charge of only two consecutive matches of the second qualifying round in Asia for the 2026 FIFA North-Central American World Cup against Thailand in March.
The third match, the first match against Thailand, will take place at 8 p.m. on Saturday at Seoul World Cup Stadium. The fourth match against Thailand, which will be held on an away basis, will take place at 9:30 p.m. on Sunday at Rajamangala Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.
While attention is focused on whether to turn around the mood of the national team, which is shaken by the elimination of the semifinals of the 2023 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup and the clash of Son Heung-min (Tottenham) and Lee Kang-in (Paris Saint-Germain), the competition for the starting lineup of midfielder resources is also drawing keen attention.
In the Asian Cup, Hwang In-beom and Park Yong-woo (Al-Ain) were the main players. Hong Hyun-suk (Hent) and Park Jin-seop (Jeonbuk Hyundai) helped with the rotation.
However, Park Yong-woo was excluded from the list, and Baek Seung-ho, a former member of the 2022 Qatar World Cup, was called to the national team again. Jung Ho-yeon, a rookie midfielder born in 2000, who led the success of the K-League 1 Gwangju, has also worn the national flag for the first time in his career.
Both players are capable of starting from defensive midfielders to center midfielders (three lines above). They will likely compete with Hwang In-beom, Hong Hyun-suk, and Park Jin-seop, who have previous midfielders.
Hwang In-beom is definitely the main player. The number of midfielders may vary depending on which formation Hwang uses, but one to a maximum of two players will be paired with Hwang.
Hong Hyun-seok, Baek Seung-ho, Park Jin-seop, and Jung Ho-yeon are all players who have been with Hwang since he was a member of the Asian Games national team, so he is expected to be appointed in the right place.
However, it is not easy to predict selection because each person has different personalities.
In the case of Hong Hyun-suk, he can show his strength in the third line as well as the second line (between the front and the third line). As he meets Thailand, which is weak, Hong Hyun-suk can start if Hwang pursues aggressive management to gain an early advantage in the game. 노래방알바
Baek Seung-ho, who recently moved to Birmingham in the English professional football championship (second division), is playing well as a defensive midfielder in his team. In the league match against Middlesbrough on the 13th, he received a high rating apart from his team’s loss (0-1 loss).
As its strength is its wide field of view and accurate pass, it is a good resource to use fast-footed side players.