AMMAN (Yonhap) ― The South Korean men’s national football team will seek to end its final road trip of the year on a winning note, when it faces Jordan in Amman on Friday.
The kickoff will be 4:30 p.m. local time, or 11:30 p.m. Korean time, at King Abdulla Stadium in Jordan’s capital.
South Korea is ranked 66th in the world, eight spots above Jordan, and holds an edge in all-time meetings with two wins and two draws.
After Jordan, South Korea, coached by former German international Uli Stielike since last month, will travel to Tehran to face Iran next Tuesday.
They are the final friendly matches in 2014 for South Korea and also the final preps for the AFC Asian Cup tournament scheduled for next January in Australia.
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| Korean football players train in Jordan on Wednesday, ahead of their friendly match against the Middle Eastern country. (Yonhap) |
Stielike has brought a 22-man squad to the Middle East, and Mainz 05 midfielder Koo Ja-cheol was named captain on Wednesday.
Koo was South Korea’s captain at the FIFA World Cup in Brazil earlier this year and had served the same role at the 2012 London Olympics.
With Koo inserted as captain under then head coach Hong Myung-bo, South Korea failed to win a match in Brazil and took a quick exit out of the group stage. Koo said he would try to be a better leader this time.
“I didn’t do a good job as captain at the World Cup,” Koo said.
“Now that I am back in the role again, I’d like to show improvements. We’re all driven to win the Asian Cup next year.”
Koo is one of seven players based in European leagues. The Middle East is also well represented with six players, one of them being a much-maligned striker Park Chu-young.
Park, 29, leads the current squad with 24 goals in 66 matches, but he was only recently rescued from the brink of football oblivion by Saudi Arabian club Al-Shabab, who signed him to a one-year deal last month.
After a disastrous World Cup ― where he’d recorded just one shot without scoring in two matches ― Park spent a few months without a club. Then after joining Al-Shabab, Park has been rounding into form, prompting Stielike to give him another chance.
In explaining his selection of Park, Stielike said he wanted to see Park in person before selecting the team for the Asian Cup.
There are some familiar faces joining Park, such as Swansea City midfielder Ki Sung-yueng, Bolton Wanderers winger Lee Chung-yong and Bayer Leverkusen star Son Heung-min.
Son, who’s been on an impressive scoring run for his German club, is expected to sit out against Jordan because of muscle fatigue in his right calf, according to a national team official.
The official added that the 22-year-old hasn’t sustained any structural damage but only did some light jogging on the sidelines during the team’s spirited 90-minute practice on Wednesday.
El Jaish forward Lee Keun-ho, one of several players from the World Cup squad, will have to pick up the slack on offense in Son’s absence. He’s second on the current team with 19 goals in 69 matches, and 11 of those goals have come against the Middle Eastern opponents.
Playing under Stielike for the first time, Lee said he wanted to make a good first impression.
“They say first impressions are always important, and I’d like to show him what kind of a player I am,” he said. “Then I think some good results will naturally follow.”
Stielike’s defense corps has a mix of veterans and up-and-comers. The coach has named eight defenders and is expected to deploy two separate units for the two upcoming matches.
Hong Jeong-ho and Kim Young-gwon, the centerback tandem who had a disappointing World Cup campaign in Brazil, will have a chance to redeem themselves before Stielike.
Goalkeeper Jung Sung-ryong will also get a chance at redemption. He was the country’s No. 1 goalkeeper before the start of the World Cup but after letting in five goals in the first two group matches, Jung was benched in favor of Kim Seung-gyu against Belgium in the Group H finale. This is Jung’s first international call-up since the World Cup.
