As the Korea Football Association dismissed the possibility of a Korea-Japan match in June, which was recently raised by the Japanese media, revenge for the recent series of disasters is expected to be delayed for the time being.
The association explained, “At present, there is no plan to play an evaluation match with Japan.”
The men’s national soccer team, which had two evaluation matches last month under the leadership of Jurgen Klinsmann, is said to be planning to play two games in Korea during the A-match period in June and an overseas expedition to Europe in September.
An official from the association emphasized, “There is no reason to play the Korea-Japan match while changing the existing plan.”
Accordingly, the Korea-Japan match is expected to be concluded at the earliest in the Asian Cup held in Qatar next January. Korea, which is aiming to win the Asian Cup, must defeat Japan, its biggest rival, to achieve its goal, so a head-on collision is inevitable.
The interest of football fans is whether ace Son Heung-min (Tottenham) will sortie for the Korea-Japan match.
So far, Son Heung-min has been shining in 110 A-matches, but he only played one match against Korea and Japan, and even that was 12 years ago.
He came on as a substitute in the 37th minute of the second half of the Asian Cup semifinals in January 2011 and played until the second half of extra time. After that, there is no record of participating in the Korea-Japan match. Son Heung-min, who joined the national team as the youngest at the time, shed hot tears when Korea lost in a penalty shoot-out.
Afterwards, he sharpened multiple blades, but there was no opportunity to participate in the Korea-Japan match. He came out as a wild card at the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games held in September 2018 and faced Japan in the final, but this was not an A match as a national team game by age.
In the Korea-Japan match held in Sapporo, Japan in August 2011, the selection of the national team was unsuccessful due to symptoms of high fever and cold, and in the friendly evaluation match held in March 2021, he suffered a hamstring injury and could not join the national team.
Unfortunately,스포츠토토 the national team lost 0-3 in both matches in which Son Heung-min could not join due to poor physical condition. The match is remembered as an indelible disgrace and disaster in Korean soccer history.
If there is any consolation from the point of view of domestic soccer fans, it is that ace Son Heung-min did not make a sortie when Korean soccer suffered a disaster in the Korea-Japan war. If the national team, with Son Heung-min, the best striker in the English Premier League (EPL), plays against Japan with the best team, the result could be different.