Hong Myung-bo avenged Klinsman’s Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup semifinal disaster eight months ago.
The South Korean national team, led by head coach Hong Myung-bo, won 2-0 away to Jordan in Group B of the third Asian qualifying round for the 2026 FIFA North-China World Cup at Amman International Stadium in Jordan on the 10th (Korea time).
He laughed with Lee Jae-sung (Mainz)’s first goal in the 38th minute of the first half and Oh Hyun-kyu (Henk)’s additional goal in the 23rd minute of the second half.
South Korea, ranked 23rd in the FIFA rankings, has an objective power advantage over Jordan, ranked 68th.
However, at the 2023 Asian Cup held in Qatar earlier this year, he had difficulties, meeting Jordan twice and never winning.
It drew in the group stage, and was eliminated in the semifinals, which was the final road, after suffering a 0-2 shock loss.
South Korea, led by head coach Jurgen Klinsmann at the time, collapsed helplessly due to Jordan’s counterattack with one-two punch Yazan Al-Naimat (Al-Araibi) and Moussa Altamari (Monfelier).
The main defender Kim Min-jae (Munich) was absent due to accumulated warnings, but he had no choice but to admit his overall inferiority.
South Korean soccer, which ended its first Asian summit challenge in 64 years in vain due to Jordan, has since faced a sharp wind.
Coach Klinsmann was replaced for responsibility for failure to manage the team and lack of tactics, and after twists and turns, he played the second qualifying round of the World Cup under the temporary head coach system until Hong Myung-bo was appointed in July.
However, as Hong Myung-bo avenged the defeat of the Klinsman in Jordan’s enemy territory, the stagnant atmosphere also took a chance to rebound.
South Korea, which had one win and one draw in the first and second rounds of the third qualifying round last month, went three games undefeated with two consecutive wins, lowering Jordan (1 win, 1 draw and 1 loss, 4 points) and leading the group.
Above all, he will be able to gain an advantage in the future by catching Jordan, who is expected to compete for the lead in the group.
Coach Hong Myung-bo, who was called to the National Assembly due to unfair controversy in the process of appointing the national team head coach, also took a breather with his victory over Jordan.
If the result of the match against Jordan was not good, the voice of the replacement toward head coach Hong Myung-bo had to be louder.
Another positive point is that the absence of Korean soccer’s “captain” Son Heung-min (Tottenham) was filled with appropriate mercenary skills. 안전놀이터
Since he was criticized for being highly dependent on Son Heung-min in the first and second rounds of the third qualifying round, the Jordanian away victory without Son is also very valuable to coach Hong.
On top of that, it is also encouraging that young players such as Oh Hyun-kyu, Bae Joon-ho (Stoke City), and Seol Young-woo (Zvezda) performed impressively.
However, the injury of Hwang Hee-chan (Wolverhampton), who started as a left striker instead of Son Heung-min and fell 23 minutes into the game and was replaced, remained a fly in the ointment.