Bentuho, who lost the championship to Japan in the 2022 East Asian Football Federation (EAFF) E-1 Championship (East Asian Cup), returned with a heavy footstep.
The Korean men’s soccer team, led by coach Paulo Bento, returned home through Incheon International Airport on the afternoon of the 28th after the 2022 East Asian Cup, which was held in Japan until the 27th.
Kwon Kyung-won, a member of the Japanese J-League Gamba Osaka, was released from the field, and 24 K-League players and coaches entered the country.
Bentuho finished the tournament in 2nd place (6 points, 2 wins and 1 loss) after Japan (7 points, 2 wins, 1 draw) after losing 0-3 to Japan in the third match of the East Asian Cup the day before.
Previously, they defeated China and Hong Kong, which were the ‘definite weak points’ 3-0, respectively, but they were dragged helplessly in the final match against Japan and collapsed.
As a result, the dream of winning the tournament for 4 consecutive years was shattered.
Korea has won the East Asian Cup men’s division, which started in 2003, three times in a row since 2015, the most in their career, five times.
This tournament was held outside of the match A period set by FIFA, and the participating teams had to form a team with players active in their own leagues, excluding players from overseas, such as Europeans.
Bentuho also convened 25 K-riggers and Kwon Kyung-won to participate in the competition.
It wasn’t a ‘complete’, but it was an important opportunity to cover up the jade of the domestic group ahead of the Qatar World Cup finals in November.
However, the organizational power was incomplete, exposing the limitations of the unstable defense and build-up against Japan, and the ‘key player’ to make up for this was not very noticeable.
Rather, it seemed to reaffirm the dependence of foreign players such as Son Heung-min (Tottenham) and Kim Min-jae (Fenerbahce), who were not able to attend.
There are still many tasks to be solved, but there is not much time left.
The national team will reconvene during the match A in September, two months before the start of the World Cup, and play two evaluation matches.
As the final mock test opponent, Costa Rica and African teams from North and Central America are mentioned.
In a situation where it is difficult to make a big change, Bentuho seems to have to improve the perfection of ‘Plan A’ centered on the main players.
In the Qatar World Cup finals, opponents stronger than Japan are waiting.
Korea will face Portugal, Uruguay and Ghana in Group H.
/yunhap news