Kim Do-hoon, head coach of the national soccer team, who is preparing for the second Asian qualifying round for the 2026 North and Central America World Cup, will select seven new faces to seek “harmony between old and new.”
Kim Do-hoon, interim coach of the national soccer team, announced the list of 23 players to play in the away game against Singapore (June 6) and the home game against China (June 11) in the “second Asian qualifying round for the North-China World Cup” to be held next month through the Korea Football Association.
Coach Kim Do-hoon, who became the second interim head coach after Hwang Sun-hong in March, chose a “shattering” of selecting seven new players, breaking the expectation that he would set up a stable squad centered on existing members.
While the main players such as “Captain” Son Heung-min (Tottenham) and Lee Kang-in (Paris Saint-Germain) were dominated, the change was inevitable due to injuries and surgery, excluding the list of striker Cho Kyu-sung (Mitwillan), defender Kim Min-jae (Bayern Munich) and Seol Young-woo (Ulsan).
Coach Kim chose seven new faces that had never been picked before, instead of the players who had been on and off the national team.
Bae Joon-ho, a midfielder who joined Stoke City in the English Professional Football Championship (second division) and made a strong impression in his first season in Europe, as well as promising players who showed remarkable performances in the national team by age, including Oh Se-hoon (Machidzelvia), Hwang Jae-won (Daegu), and Choi Jun (Seoul).
They also recruited players with no national team experience, such as goalkeeper Hwang In-jae (Pohang), defenders Park Seung-wook (Gimcheon) and Ha Chang-rae (Nagoya).
In addition, veteran midfielder Jung Woo-young (Alkaliz), who had moved away from the national team after the 2022 Qatar World Cup, and midfielder Park Yong-woo (Al Ain), who was excluded from the call-up in March due to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup slump earlier this year, added experience to the midfield.
Not many expected Kim to make such a big change after playing only two World Cup qualifiers in June.
Only Paulo Bento and Jurgen Klinsman, and even Hwang Sun-hong, who was a firefighter in March, have maintained a conservative selection centered on overseas players.
Also, Kim, who suddenly took charge of the national team, did not have enough time to cover up a new player.
Nevertheless, Kim was not afraid of change.
Rather, ahead of the final qualifying round, he showed his willingness to help expand the national team’s pool by making a “new and old harmony” with a bold selection at a time when he is virtually likely to lead the second qualifying round.
This is positive in that it can bring a new competitive structure to the national team.
This is because newly joined players from Singapore and China, which are relatively less motivated, can revitalize the team.
Although he was selected for the first time under the provisional coach system, depending on whether he plays in the World Cup qualifying round or not, it can be an opportunity to steadily rise to the national team even after the official head coach comes in the future.
Coach Kim said, “It was difficult to bring about a big change in the face of the tight time,” but stressed, “We formed the list through in-depth meetings with the coaches, judging that alternative resources should be prepared considering the injuries and physical conditions of the existing main players.” 먹튀검증
“Many new players have joined, and existing national team players have the ability to work with any players in terms of skills,” he said, adding, “We will prepare well tactically so that we can harmonize well with new and old players in these two games.”