Chinanews.com, Beijing, November 19th. Since 1986, South Korea has entered the World Cup finals ten times in a row, and it can be called a "veteran" to participate in the World Cup.
In this World Cup, the South Korean team was assigned to Group H, with Portugal, Uruguay and Ghana in the same group. For the "Tai Chi Tigers" who have missed the knockout rounds in the two World Cups, if they want to qualify for the group, they can only give it a go.
Team lineup:
goalkeeper
Kim Seung-kyu (Riyadh Youth), Cho Hyun-woo (Ulsan Hyundai), Song Bum-geun (Jeonbuk Hyundai)
Defender:
Kim Min-jae (Naples), Kim Young-kwon (Ulsan Hyundai), Kim Tae-hwan (Ulsan Hyundai), Kim Jin-soo (Jeonbuk Hyundai), Kim Moon-hwan (Jeonbuk Hyundai), Yoon Jong-gyu (Seoul), Hong Cheol (Daegu), Kwon Kyung-won (Osaka Gamba), Cho Woomin (Daejeon Asiana citizen)
midfield:
Son Heung-min (Tottenham Hotspur), Hwang Hee-chan (Wolves), Lee Jae-sung (Mainz 05), Hwang In-beom (Olympiacos), Na Sang-ho (FC Seoul), Baek Seung-ho (Jeonbuk Hyundai), Kwon Chang-hoon (Kim Chuon Sangmu), Jung Woo-young (Al Thad), Sun Junhao (Shandong Taishan), Li Gangren (Mallorca), Song Minkyu (Jeonbuk Hyundai), Zheng Youying (Freiburg)
forward:
Hwang Eui-su (Olympiacos, Greece), Cho Kyu-sung (Jeonbuk Hyundai)
Core players:
Sun Xingmin, who has been in a hot state in the Premier League in recent years, is the well-deserved core of the South Korean team.
Last season, he won the Premier League Golden Boot with 23 goals, becoming the first Asian player to win this honor in the five major leagues.
This season, he even staged a miraculous performance of scoring a hat-trick in 13 minutes off the bench, showing top shooting skills.
Sun Xingmin is characterized by fast speed, outstanding skills at his feet, and balanced left and right feet. At the same time, he is the main player in the Premier League. He has good physical fitness that is different from ordinary Asian players. He is the most threatening offensive player in the Korean team.
Team coach:
South Korean coach Paul Bento is a member of the "Golden Generation" of the Portuguese team. He also participated in the 2002 World Cup in Korea and Japan as the main team.
In the summer of 2018, Bento officially took over the Korean national team. This World Cup will be the biggest test he has faced since leading the team.
Highlight moments:
South Korea has not missed the top-flight tournament since the 1986 World Cup.
Its best result came from the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea. At that time, South Korea defeated Italy and Spain to advance to the semi-finals, which also created the best result of an Asian team in the World Cup.
The road to promotion:
In the top 40 of Qatar World Cup Asian qualifiers, the South Korean team was in the same group as Lebanon, North Korea, Turkmenistan and Sri Lanka.
They eventually advanced to the top twelve with 5 wins and 1 draw.
In the top twelve stage, the South Korean team was divided into Group A with Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon.
Tai Chi Tiger achieved a record of 7 wins, 2 draws and 1 loss, and finally advanced to the World Cup finals with 23 points and ranked second in the group.
Group stage schedule (Beijing time)
Uruguay VS South Korea at 21:00 on November 24
November 28 at 21:00 South Korea VS Ghana
December 2nd at 23:00 South Korea VS Portugal