Hwang Hee-chan and Um Ji-sung, who fell side by side in an away match in Jordan, eventually get off the second Hong Myung-bo team.
On behalf of the two, Lee Seung-woo and Moon Sun-min, who play together for Jeonbuk Hyundai, will board together to add to the offense.
“Hwang Hee-chan injured his left ankle and Um Ji-sung’s left knee, and Lee Seung-woo and Moon Seon-min were diagnosed as having difficulty in playing in the match against Iraq on Saturday, so the two players were called off,” the Korea Football Association said on Wednesday. “Lee Seung-woo and Moon Seon-min will be substituted. They will join recovery training from today.”
The South Korean national soccer team, led by head coach Hong Myung-bo, won 2-0 against Jordan in the third Group B match of the 2026 North-China World Cup Asia 3 at Amman International Stadium in Jordan on the 11th, with Lee Jae-sung in the first half and Oh Hyun-kyu scoring one goal each in the second half. It recalled the incident of turning Korean soccer into a mess, including the replacement of former national team coach Jurgen Klinsman after suffering a 0-2 crushing defeat at the Qatar Asian Cup in February.
However, there was also an incident in which players were carried away one after another by rough tackles against the opponent in the game.
First of all, Hwang Hee-chan (Wolverhampton), who served as a one-two punch to the front line with Son Heung-min, was replaced in the 23rd minute of the first half after injuring his left ankle due to the opponent’s rough play. Hwang Hee-chan shook off the opponent’s violent tackle from behind 10 minutes into the first half and got up again, and was tackled once more 10 minutes later before eventually being carried off on a stretcher.
On top of that, even Um Ji-sung (Swansea City), who was put in place of Hwang Hee-chan, collapsed complaining of knee pain three minutes into the second half and was replaced by Bae Joon-ho (Stoke City).
Hwang Hee-chan is a left wing resource that was deployed in lieu of ace Son Heung-min (Tottenham Hotspur), who injured his muscle behind his thigh ahead of the match against Jordan. Eventually, Son’s Plan B and Plan C called “Thumbs up” all at once were injured.
This has become a source of concern for Team Hong Myung-bo ahead of the fourth Group B match against Iraq to be held at Mir Stadium in Yongin on the 15th. Coach Hong also mentioned the possibility of their absence after returning home on the 11th.
“I think (the two players) are in a very difficult situation right now. We have a plan for what to do first, but we plan to decide separately through a meeting today,” Hong told reporters at the scene of his return to Korea.
“Hwang Hee-chan was very good from the beginning, but he was injured, and Um Ji-sung, who was newly entered, was also very good, but it was difficult to get injured in the same position twice in a row,” he said.
In the end, both were concluded to be excluded from convocation after conducting a detailed examination of the injured area.
However, it is fortunate that Lee Seung-woo and Moon Sun-min, who are playing top-notch in the K-League, have decided to return and add strength to the side.
Lee Seung-woo played for nearly three years after completing his European career through Suwon FC in 2022 and taking the K-League stage, scoring 35 goals and 11 assists in 97 games, including the promotion and playoffs.
In particular, he scored 10 goals and two assists in 18 games at Suwon FC in the first half of this season, becoming the best striker in K League 1, and moved to Jeonbuk Hyundai in July with the best treatment as a domestic player in the K League.
Lee Seung-woo participated in the 2018 World Cup finals in Russia, where he played for Italy’s Serie A Verona, and has been consistently on the national team’s roster since then, but he has never been named as a national team member after a friendly match against Iran on June 11, 2019. He has always been mentioned as a strong candidate to join the national team, but he has not been selected, but through this roster against Iraq, he can expect to return to the A-match after five years and four months. Lee has played 11 A-match games and has yet to score a goal. If he plays against Iraq, he will be able to aim for his debut goal.
As Moon recorded six goals and three assists in 24 matches for Jeonbuk this year, he has been actively engaged in overall offense despite his team’s decline in the relegation zone. Born in 1992, the same age as Son, he is somewhat older, but he can fully expect Joker to be deployed in the second half.
Moon also entered the final entry at the 2018 World Cup in Russia and played in matches against Mexico and Germany. The most recent A match he played was a friendly match against Tunisia in October last year under Coach Klinsmann.
Moon scored two goals in 16 A matches. He also scored his debut goal in a match against Honduras on May 28, 2018, when he made his A match debut. He then scored his second A match goal in a friendly match against Uzbekistan in November 2018, and has not scored since. 먹튀검증
Meanwhile, the national team will hold a closed recovery training session at Seongnam FC clubhouse on the 11th.
On the 13th, he will engage in tactical training at a training site near Yongin, and on the 14th, he will conduct final training with an official press conference at Yongin Mir Stadium, where the Iraq match will be held.