It will take more time for Son Joon-ho (32, Suwon FC) to return to the national team.
The Korea Football Association (KFA) announced the list of A-team players who will play in two A matches in September at the Korea Football Center at 11 a.m. on the 26th. Hong Myung-bo is the first coach who will play the first match of the Asian qualifying round for the 2026 North-China World Cup against Palestine on September 5 and the second match against Oman on September 10. The match against Palestine will be held at the Seoul World Cup Stadium and the match against Oman will be held at the Muscat Sultan Qaboos Stadium.
When looking at the team’s roster, there were situations where I could feel coach Hong Myung-bo’s agony. Many new faces were seen in the midfield and fullback. They are seeking to create a new team through first-time players such as Hwang Moon-ki (Gangwon) and Choi Woo-jin (Incheon). In fact, it was not possible to see the names of fullbacks who used to represent Korean soccer in the past in this team’s roster.
Fullback was filled with new faces, but the midfield was different. In fact, the position that bothered Hong the most was the midfield. He re-appointed veterans Park Yong-woo (Al-Ain) and Jung Woo-young (Ulsan) as defensive midfielders. Other central midfielders were Hwang In-beom (Trvena Zvezda) and Chung Ho-yeon (Gwangju FC).
The decision was inevitable as other players were not receiving much attention in the league despite the fact that they were mostly veterans. “We need players who can play the role of holding midfielders like Park Yong-woo and Jung Woo-young. We had other competitors, but we chose the two,” he said.
However, the recruitment of Son Joon-ho, who received a lot of attention, failed in the end. After wearing Suwon FC’s uniform in June, he showed top performance in the K League 1, raising expectations for his return to the national team. Now that his physical strength has improved a lot, I wondered if he would wear the national flag again through the A-match in September.
Son Joon-ho has also expressed his intention to return to the national team. “To be selected for the A-match in September, I have to have the stamina to play for 90 minutes. I have to show good performance. I will do my best no matter what if I prepare well and play for 10 minutes,” he said after beating Ulsan, which was led by coach Hong Myung-bo last month
Even after the home game on Friday, Son said, “I am more confident than anyone else in the position of defensive midfielder. I am confident no matter who I can compete with.” However, Son was not on the national team’s roster. The reason was not his skills but judicial risks related to Chinese soccer.
At a press conference on the previous day, coach Hong Myung-bo said, “Son Joon-ho is constantly watching. There were some unclear parts in the process of coming from China (to Korea). I have to keep going through inquiries from the Chinese Football Association, but there were some risks.” He implied that judicial issues were not clearly resolved outside of performance.
Son Jun-ho, who played for Shandong Taishan (China), was arrested in criminal detention in May last year while trying to return from China. After being investigated for about 10 months for suspected bribery of non-state workers, he was able to return to Korea only at the end of March.
It is said that it is a “non-state worker’s crime” to be applied to cases where a person belonging to a company or other unit, not a government agency, illegally receives property in China. Son Joon-ho quickly returned to the stadium after overcoming a long gap.
After carefully examining international transfer agreements issued by the CFA, the KFA determined that there was no reason for disqualification in the player’s registration. As a result, Son Jun-ho improved his condition by joining the K5 League Yongsan Goonyong FC in late April, and successfully returned to the K-League by wearing the Suwon FC uniform in late June. 먹튀검증
However, judicial risk seems to be still ongoing. A KFA official said, “The Chinese Football Association is still figuring out whether Son will be disciplined or not. It has not been confirmed yet. There are some areas that are not clear. We have contacted each other continuously, but we have not received a proper response,” adding, “We are waiting for the punishment.”
To be precise, communication with the CFA itself is being delayed. KFA made a quick inquiry, but it is difficult to clearly confirm the judicial procedure. On top of that, since both the disciplinary status and the level are unknown, we have no choice but to wait for the CFA’s procedure, but no clear answer has been made.