A midfielder being detained in China on bribery allegations was named to the South Korean men’s national football team Monday for two upcoming friendly matches.
Head coach Jurgen Klinsmann unveiled his 23-man squad for matches against Peru and El Salvador later this month on home soil.
In a surprise move, Klinsmann chose Shandong Taishan’s Son Jun-ho as one of his 10 midfielders. Son has been in detention in Liaoning province since mid-May for what Chinese officials have said were bribery charges. Precious few details have been made available to South Korean officials, who have been unsuccessful in their attempt to bring the football player home.
Klinsmann said he wanted to show Son the national team’s support by putting him on the team despite his uncertain status.
“I think he deserves all the support from us,” Klinsmann said at his press conference at the Korea Football Association (KFA) House in Seoul. “We will miss him. We hope every day that the situation is resolved.”
South Korea, world No. 27, will face the 21st-ranked Peru on June 16 in Busan, 320 kilometers southeast of Seoul. Four days later, South Korea will host No. 75 El Salvador in Daejeon, some 140 km south of the capital.
The squad features three first-time callups: Jeju United defender An Hyun-beom, KAA Gent midfielder Hong Hyun-seok and Ulsan Hyundai FC defender Park Yong-woo.
Hong, 23, has impressed in the top Belgian league in particular, establishing career highs with five goals and five assists in 31 matches this past season. Hong had previously played in Germany and Austria. Klinsmann noted that Hong “has had a very strong season.”
An is part of a new-look defense corps that will be without two mainstays: Napoli star Kim Min-jae will report for his mandatory military training after earning exemption from conscription with the gold medal at the 2018 Asian Games, and his center back partner, Kim Young-gwon of Ulsan Hyundai FC, is nursing a right quad injury.
“It’s not easy because, as a national team coach, you always want consistency, you want the same players and established rhythm,” Klinsmann said. “When injuries happen, they disrupt the rhythm, but then you make the best out of it. These circumstances open the doors for other players to come for the first time and prove their point. That’s how careers start.”
Klinsmann said he believed An could be more than just a temporary fill-in.
“I like his dynamic approach, speed, courage going after people one against one,” he said. “These characteristics are very important.”
Klinsmann will try to collect his first win on the South Korean bench. South Korea played Colombia to a 2-2 draw in Klinsmann’s debut here on March 24, and then lost to Uruguay 2-1 four days later.
Klinsmann is bringing back the same trio of strikers from the March friendlies: Hwang Ui-jo of FC Seoul, Cho Gue-sung of Jeonbuk Hyundai FC and Oh Hyeon-gyu of Celtic FC.
Conspicuous by his absence on the list is Ulsan striker Joo Min-kyu, who is leading the K League 1 this season with eight goals. Joo won the league scoring title in 2021 with 22 goals and then finished second last year with 17. No player has scored more goals than the 33-year-old in the K League 1 over the past two and a half seasons, but Joo is still looking for his first international appearance.
Without specifically identifying Joo, Klinsmann said he was aware of players with more goals this season than the three he chose. But the former striker remained high on the potential of the trio from the March friendlies.
“We know other players that maybe want to break into this team here,” the coach said. “But we have specific ideas about the potential that these (three) players have.”
The usual suspects on the team include longtime captain Son Heung-min, veteran goalkeeper Kim Seung-gyu and steady midfielder Hwang In-beom.
Source: Yonhap News Agency