Klinsmann chose Iraq as a warm-up match for his first Asian Cup championship challenge in 64 years.
The Korea Football Association reported on Monday that “South Korea’s last opponent before the Asian Cup has been confirmed to be Iraq,” adding, “Only the final sign remains. We will announce it when the paperwork is completed.”
The men’s national soccer team, led by Jürgen Klinsmann, will be held at the 2023 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Qatar Asian Cup, which will be held from January 12 to February 10, 2024.
The event is truly an aspiration from Korea’s perspective. Since Korea won the second event in 1960, Korea has not won a single Asian Cup championship.
At the 2019 UAE Championship under former coach Paulo Bento, Korea was also in tears after losing to Qatar in the quarterfinals. At that time, Qatar won the title by defeating Japan in the final.
In the previous 2015 tournament, Cha Du-ri was united as a one-team and advanced to the final, but she shed tears as she lost 1-2 to her home team Australia after extra time.
Son Heung-min, who was the youngest member of the national team at the time, has already played the World Cup as a captain. Considering Son Heung-min, who was born in 1992, there is a high possibility that this will be the actual last tournament.
The Middle East chose Iraq as the prelude to such a competition. Iraq ranks 63rd in the FIFA rankings, but it captured both Indonesia (5-1 win) and Vietnam (1-0 win) in the second qualifying round for the Asian region of the FIFA World Cup last month.
Korea had 22 matches with Iraq, with a total of eight wins, 12 draws and two losses. However, in the semi-finals of the 2007 Asian Cup, Korea was eliminated after losing in the shootout without scoring a goal. At that time, Iraq won the title. 헤라카지노
South Korea won 3-0 in the final qualifying round for the Qatar World Cup in November 2021, the previous showdown.
Meanwhile, starting with the match against Iraq, which is likely to be held on January 6, South Korea will face Bahrain, Jordan and Malaysia in Group E of the 2023 Qatar Asian Cup.