Tottenham manager Enze Postecoglou, who asked for “protection of Son Heung-min” from Hong Myung-bo, the head coach of the A national soccer team, changed his posture when he was on the verge of defeat.
Before joining the A-match, Son Heung-min played full-time in Ipswich Taicho (1-2 loss), the final English Premier League. Manager Hong Myung-bo was different. He cherished the “captain” Son Heung-min and further enhanced the presence of “future” Bae Joon-ho (21) of Stoke City.
Son Heung-min, who returned from a hamstring injury (back muscle of his thigh) in two months, restarted a goal bombing. He calmly scored a penalty kick in the 19th minute of the first half against Kuwait. It was his 50th goal in an A-match. Son has tied with Hwang Sun-hong, the coach of Daejeon Hana Citizen, for the second place with the most goals scored in an A-match.
Hong Myung-bo led 2-0 in the first half by combining Oh Se-hoon (25, Machida)’s two consecutive A-match goals in the ninth minute of the first half, but allowed Kuwait to score a comeback goal in the 15th minute of the second half.
He was chased 2-1 away, but Hong did not “gambling” Son Heung-min’s physical condition.
He called Son to the bench at the 19th minute of the second half and pulled out Bae Jun-ho’s card. Bae responded to Hong’s belief by scoring a decisive goal just 10 minutes after he was deployed. He continued his strides by scoring attack points (one goal and two assists) in three consecutive matches. Hong won the match 3-1 against Kuwait on Tuesday, crossing the “seven-point ridge” of advancing to the World Cup finals for the 11th consecutive time. With four consecutive wins, the Republic of Korea has maintained its lead in Group B with 13 points (four wins and one draw).
The gap with the runner-up teams has widened further. The score point gap with Jordan and Iraq (eight points or more) now stands at five points. In the third qualifying round, the first and second place in each group will advance directly to the World Cup finals. Early advancement to the World Cup finals has entered the countdown stage. Coach Hong is also fully equipped with mercenary skills. Starting with the second round match against Oman (three to one win), which was the turning point, he reversed the trend with tactical changes and clever replacement cards in the matches against Jordan (two to zero) and Iraq (three to two wins). This is why Oh Hyun-kyu (Henk) as well as Bae Joon-ho and Oh Se-hoon (FC Genk) appeared in the front.
In particular, his philosophy remained unshakable in every match. “He is an important player in our team. He is in the process of repeated recovery from injury. I will continue to protect him for the future,” Hong said. “Since I decided to take the helm, I have always had a simple but strong message: advance to the World Cup finals. When I was a coach of the national team before, the situation was quite the opposite. This is why I can focus on the current situation.” 카지노사이트
The halfway point of the third preliminary round has passed. The game is not over yet. The Taegeuk Warriors entered Amman, Jordan, where the last A-match of 2024 will be held, on Thursday using a chartered plane. The South Korean team will face off again against the Palestinians it encountered in the first round at 11 p.m. on Wednesday (Korea time) at the International Stadium in Amman, a neutral site. The Palestinians have the pain of a draw. Now it is time to cross the threshold.