‘Bentu’ to Qatar in 2nd place in Group A▶ Click here for a larger view
The Korean national football team, led by coach Paulo Bento, finished the 2022 Qatar World Cup qualifiers with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which ended on the 30th (Korean time).
Although they lost 0-1 in the away match against the UAE in the 10th match of Group A in the final qualifying round on that day, and the qualifying round was undefeated and group 1 pass was canceled, Bentuho made it to the finals for the 11th consecutive World Cup and 10 times in a row relatively smoothly than in the previous tournament. accomplished
There are still eight months left until the World Cup finals, which start in November, but during the Asian qualifiers, the members who will board the Bentu and go to Qatar, as well as the outlines of the Best 11, were revealed to some extent.
When announcing the national team call list, coach Bento rarely drew attention with his ‘surprise selection’.
Although it was criticized for being tactically inflexible and selecting players too conservatively, coach Bento focused on completing his ‘build-up football’ stably rather than experimenting.
If we look at the final qualifier alone, there are 32 players who have stepped on the ground for even a minute during 10 matches.
Of these, 15 players played in 5 or more matches. It is the result of qualifying with almost similar members with a European background.
The Korean national football team who started against the UAE.It can be seen that the best 11 is actually confirmed.
The final entry for the World Cup is 23. Excluding three goalkeepers, there are 20 field players, about two for each position.
In a 4-2-3-1 or 4-1-4-1 formation, the front-line Hwang Ui-jo (Bordeaux) and the left and right flanks Heung-Min Son (Tottenham) and Hee-Chan Hwang (Wolverhampton) are the mainstays of the Bentuho attack.
They’ve always been called by Bento, except for injuries.
Hwang Ui-Jo played 8 matches in the final qualifying round (7 starts, 3 full-time matches).
Heung-Min Son started out wearing the captain’s armband in 7 matches (6 full-time matches) and scored 4 goals to tie for first place in the scoring table in the final qualifying round. Heung-Min Son’s three final qualifier matches were all due to injuries.
Hee-chan Hwang also scored one goal in 8 matches (7 starts, 6 full-time) except when injured.
Son Heung-min (left) competing for the ball in the UAE▶ Click here for a larger view
While Ui-Jo Hwang, who was considered the undisputed leader, ended up scoring no goals in the final qualifying round, Kyu-Sung Cho (Kimcheon) played in 6 matches (starting in 5 matches, full-time in 2 matches) and scoring 1 goal, improving competitiveness. The growth of Jo Gyu-seong is a welcome addition to the Bentuho, as he can not only allocate playing time with Hwang Ui-jo, but also add attack options such as two-top.
Song Min-gyu (Jeonbuk), Young-geon, and others are also increasing the possibility of being selected as a flank striker.
The main members of the midfielder’s resources include Lee Jae-seong (Mainz), Hwang In-beom (Kizan), and Jung Woo-young (Al Sadd).
Jae-Sung Lee scored one goal in all 10 games (9 starts, 4 full-time). Lee Jae-seong and central defender Kim Min-jae (Fenerbahce) were the only players who played all 10 matches in the final qualifying round.
Hwang In-beom started in all eight games (5 full-time games) except for the last two games that were not played due to an injury and also scored one goal.
Defensive midfielder Jung Woo-young could not play 3 games due to quarantine due to close contact with a confirmed case of Corona 19, and accumulation of warnings, but played full-time in all 7 games.
In addition, multiplayer Kwon Chang-hoon (Kim Cheon), who can handle even a sagging striker with water in the center and side, is also likely to go to Qatar. Kwon Chang-hoon scored 2 goals in 6 matches (3 starts, 1 full-time) in the final qualifying round.
Looking at Kim Min-jae and Lee Jae-sung▶ Click here for a larger view
Bento’s plans for the defense are clearly visible.
The central defenders are Kim Min-jae and Kim Young-kwon (Ulsan).
Kim Min-jae started in all 10 games and played 8 full-time games. He was substituted at the end of the second half in the second game and is the player who played the most in terms of total appearance time.
Kim Young-kwon played 90 minutes in all eight games he played, and took the captaincy in three games without Son Heung-min.
As a backup resource for the centre-back, the possibility of Kwon Kyung-won (Seongnam) and Park Ji-soo (Gimcheon) on board is predicted.
As the left and right full-backs, Hong Chul (Daegu), who played in 5 matches (starting in 4 games, full-time in 3 games), and Lee Yong (Jeonbuk), who played in 7 games (full-time in 6 games) were ahead of the competition.
However, in the case of the left full-back, while Hong Chul faltered due to injuries, etc., Kim Jin-su (Jeonbuk) spent more time standing in the second half of the final qualifying round. Jinsoo Kim appeared in 7 matches (6 starts, 5 full-time matches) and scored goals.
Kim Tae-hwan (Ulsan) is also looking at the 36-year-old Lee Yong-soo’s place as the right full-back.
The starting goalkeeper is Kim Seung-gyu (Kashiwa). Kim Seung-gyu wore goalkeeper gloves until the 9th game in the final qualifying round, and only passed the spot to Cho Hyun-woo (Ulsan) in the last match against the UAE.
Goalkeepers Song Bum-geun (Jeonbuk) and Ko Sung-yoon (Kimcheon) are expected to compete until the end for the other spot in Kim Seung-gyu and Jo Hyeon-woo.
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