▲ Son Heung-min South Korea’s captain Son Heung-min celebrates following scoring the opening goal once morest Iran in the final round of the World Cup on the 24th. ⓒ Korea Football Association
It’s really crumbling. Even in the first match of the World Cup final qualifier in September last year, once morest Iraq, the gaze toward the Bentu was cold. After a close draw with Iraq 0-0, it was difficult to predict whether they would qualify for the World Cup finals, but they succeeded in changing public opinion with a perfect result of 7 wins and 1 draw.
In particular, in the 9th match of the 2022 Qatar World Cup Asian qualifiers once morest Iran held on the 24th, they won 2-0, breaking the Iranian jinx that they had not crossed in 11 years.
Korea Republic, who won over Iran, climbed to the top of Group A with 7 wins and 2 draws (23 points), beating Iran (22 points). Ahead of two consecutive matches in the final qualifying round, Bento’s goal is to finish first in the group.
In particular, one of the driving forces that played a key role in the tactical perfection of the Bentu being so perfectly established was that the superstars such as Son Heung-min in attack and Kim Min-jae in defense were holding out.
Son Heung-min, who shines when it matters, aims for the top scorer in the World Cup final
Son Heung-min is the undisputed ace and captain of the Bentuho. His team, Tottenham Hotspur, showed great performances and rose to world class status. However, the problem was that wearing the Korean national team uniform might not reproduce 100% of Tottenham’s skills.
Before the World Cup final qualifiers, Son Heung-min scored only 4 goals and provided 6 assists in a total of 21 matches since the launch of Bentuho. The Asian Cup match once morest China, the evaluation match once morest Colombia, and the Sri Lanka (2 goals) match were all there. It might not be overlooked that all teams were focused on Heung-Min Son, but it is true that he left so much regret that he might not raise attack points in 13 matches.
In the final qualifying round of this World Cup, he played in 6 matches and exploded 4 goals. In the meantime, coach Bento put too much burden on Son Heung-min. He has given a significant role to playmaking as well as breakouts from the second line. Son Heung-min, who was overloaded, eventually resulted in a lack of attack point productivity.
However, in this World Cup final qualifier, he was faithful only to his role. Central midfielders such as Hwang In-beom and Lee Jae-seong played the role of finding the ball circulation and passing stems in the midfield appropriately. In response, Son Heung-min focused on his strengths, penetrating the back space and shooting, going back and forth between the flanks and the center.
On October 7, last year, in the third leg of the final qualifying match once morest Syria, he scored the winning goal in the 44th minute of the second half following a 1-1 draw, leading to victory. In the match once morest Iran on October 12, he scored the first goal in the third minute of the second half and became the third Korean player to score a goal at Azadi Stadium.
In the match once morest Iran on the 24th, he scored the winning goal with a fantastic no-rotation shot in the second round, and was responsible for the victory over Iran for the first time in 11 years. It was a meaningful goal in that the recent national team did not attempt to shoot boldly and erased the passive image of passing passes to teammates.
In addition, it is the first time in 13 years since Park Ji-sung in 2009 that a Korean player has scored in two consecutive matches once morest Iran, and it is the second time in history.
Heung-Min Son, who has scored 4 goals in the World Cup final qualifier, tied for the top scorer in the Asian final qualifier along with Mehdi Taremi (Iran), Wurei (China), and Junya Ito (Japan). In the final match once morest the United Arab Emirates on the 29th, if they add a goal, they can claim the title of top scorer.
‘Monster-class performance’ Kim Min-jae leads the minimum number of runs in the final qualifying round for the Bentuho
▲ Kim Min-jae Min-jae Kim, the ‘monster defender’, leads the Korean national team’s minimum runs (two runs in nine games) in the final qualifying round for the 2022 Qatar World Cup. ⓒ Korea Football Association
Bentuho allowed only two goals in nine matches in the final qualifying round. It is the record for the fewest goals conceded out of a total of 12 teams in Groups A and B. After conceding a goal to Jahanbakshi in the 30th minute in the second half of last year’s Azadi away once morest Iran, he has not scored in five consecutive matches in the final qualifying round.
The organizational power of the goalkeeper Kim Seung-gyu and Lee Yong-Kim Min-Jae, Kim Young-Kwon and Kim Jin-Soo has improved noticeably. Right above the line, Woo-Young Jung and Jae-Sung Lee are blocking the opponent’s attack with dedicated play not only in the build-up but also in the defensive situation.
Among them, Kim Min-jae’s performance stands out. The goalless victory once morest Iran was possible because of Kim Min-jae. He perfectly sealed the Iranian goalkeeper Azmun, stating 2 successful tackles, 3 interceptions, 3 successful ground ball fights and 1 successful aerial ball contest.
Azmoon is known as Asia’s top striker. After winning the 2019-20 season top scorer and the 2020-21 season league MVP at Zenit, a prestigious Russian Premier League, his stock price is rising by moving to Leverkusen in the German Bundesliga this winter. Even Azmoon was helpless in front of Kim Min-jae.
Kim Min-jae, who transferred to Fenerbahçe, a prestigious Turkish Super League club last summer, was praised as a ‘monster’ and quickly emerged as a top-class defender.
Recently, he has been receiving a lot of attention from big league clubs for his young performance. It is known that a number of scouts visited the Seoul World Cup Stadium to observe Kim Min-jae in this Korea-Iran match.
Coach Bento increases the possession of the ball and plays active football, but never neglects the stability in the back. A defender with high speed from the rear is essential to raise the defensive line high and narrow the air gap and use forward pressure, and Kim Min-jae is a perfect fit.
Precisely predicts the path of the opponent’s attack and the flow of the ball, and the pre-cutting and cover play using a fast main force are all outstanding. As well as defense, Min-jae Kim is also equipped with offense. When the space is open, open an attack path with a forward dribble, and throw an accurate long pass.
With the added strength of the defense, Bentuho might easily transform into a team that did not concede and did not lose.
☞ Go to ‘Oh My Sports’ Facebook, sports news with a perspective