Full-body training at Paju NFC on the 21st… Interested in following in the footsteps of Park Ji-sung, who led the away round of 16
At the Qatar World Cup in November, the Korean national football team, which is aiming to pass the third group stage in history, finally conducted a full-body training.
The soccer team, led by coach Paulo Bento, trained at the Paju National Team Training Center in Gyeonggi Province for regarding two hours on the morning of the 21st. The Bentuho, which was convened on the 19th, joined Kim Min-jae (Naples), Hwang Ui-jo and Hwang In-beom (Olympiacos) on the followingnoon of the 20th and became a complete group. It will be the first time in six months since the final qualifying round for the World Cup in March that the top players of the national team have gathered. In June, when there were four matches in A Match, key European players such as Kim Min-jae and Lee Jae-seong (Mainz) might not join due to injuries.
The match between Costa Rica and Cameroon, which will be held on the 23rd and 27th, is the de facto World Cup launch ceremony. One evaluation match is expected in November before the start of the World Cup, but it is difficult for foreign players to join.
In fact, as it is the last evaluation match before the World Cup, the national team captain Son Heung-min (30, Tottenham)’s determination is also extraordinary. Son Heung-min said on the 20th, “I think the atmosphere of the match A did not go well ahead of the World Cup ahead of the World Cup. I want to show the fans that we are truly united.”
This World Cup is the third World Cup for Son Heung-min. At the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, he scored one goal as the youngest member of the national team, and scored two goals in the 2018 World Cup in Russia, where he played as a top striker in the English Premier League (EPL). Along with Ahn Jung-hwan (MBC soccer commentator) and Ji-seong Park (technical director of Jeonbuk Hyundai), he holds the record for most goals scored by a Korean player in the World Cup finals, but unlike them, he has never made it through the group stage.
Son Heung-min, who aims to advance to the round of 16 for the first time, emphasized his mindset. He said, “I’m afraid of the World Cup, but I think it’s a festival all over the world, including Korea. It is important to enjoy it together,” he said.
There is much interest in whether Son Heung-min, who has become a world-class striker who commands the EPL, can follow in the footsteps of Park Ji-sung, the ‘eternal captain’ who led Korea’s first away round of 16 12 years ago. Son Heung-min has a lot in common with Park Ji-sung during the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. At that time, Ji-Sung Park was also the Premier League captain and captain of the national team. Heung-min Son took over Park Ji-sung’s jersey number 7 as well.
This evaluation game is very important for Son Heung-min, who now has to write a new history. Son Heung-min said, “These two evaluation matches have special meaning for me. We will surely bring out good results.”
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