As the South Korean national soccer team’s “captain” Son Heung-min fully recovered from his injury and returned, the second-line offensive combination of Hong Myung-bo also gained strength.
The national soccer team, led by head coach Hong Myung-bo, will play Kuwait in the fifth round of the third Asian qualifying round for the 2026 North-China World Cup at Jabeur Al Ahmed International Stadium in Kuwait City at 11 p.m. on the 14th (Korea time).
On the 19th, he will play the sixth game against the Palestinians in Amman, Jordan.
South Korea, which leads Group B with three wins and one draw (10 points) in the third qualifying round, is determined to win all two consecutive games in the Middle East and cross the ninth ridge of its 11th consecutive World Cup finals.
The most welcome news for Hong Myung-bo is Son Heung-min, who returns healthy.
Son Heung-min started the EPL’s 11th round home game against Ipswich Town in 2024-2025 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London on the 11th and played full time.
Although it did not prevent Tottenham’s 1-2 defeat, he played until the end of the game with three consecutive starts in the official match, signaling that he had fully recovered from his injury.
Son Heung-min suffered from a hamstring injury (muscle behind his thigh) this season.
On September 27, he injured his hamstring in the 2024-2025 UEFA Europa League (UEL) match against Karabakh (Azerbaijan) and left the battle line and missed the second consecutive Asian qualifying round for the 2026 North-China World Cup in October.
After that, he returned splendidly by scoring a goal against West Ham United in the eighth round of the EPL, which was his first return in four official games, but immediately after the game, he felt pain again and returned to the 10th round against Aston Villa, three games after a break against Crystal Palace in the ninth round and Manchester City in the round of 16 of the League Cup (Carabao Cup).
In the match against Villa, he expressed strong dissatisfaction as if he was embarrassed by the unexpected replacement after posting an attack point, but manager Anji Postecoglou said after the game, “Son Heung-min was not going to play for more than 55 to 60 minutes,” explaining that it was a planned replacement.
Son Heung-min also started in the subsequent UEL match against Galatasaray (Turkiye), but he played on the ground for only 45 minutes and was replaced by Dejan Kulusevski at the start of the second half.
Fortunately, he completely shook off his hamstring injury, which he held back by playing full-time through the match against Ipswich.
Of course, variables such as accumulation of fatigue due to long-distance flights after the team’s game still exist.
In fact, Tottenham manager Postecoglou also told coach Hong Myung-bo ahead of Son Heung-min’s joining the national team that cooperation is needed over Son Heung-min’s injury management.
The captain’s return is also welcome to coach Hong, who played two straight A matches in October without Son Heung-min. 메이저사이트
In addition, he played full-time just before joining the team and became a little free from injury issues.
In the absence of Son Heung-min, Hong started Hwang Hee-chan (Wolverhampton) along with Lee Kang-in (Paris Saint-Germain) and Lee Jae-sung (Mainz).
However, Hwang Hee-chan collapsed due to injury in the match against Jordan and even injured Um Ji-sung (Swansea City), giving rookie Bae Joon-ho (Stoke City) more time than expected.