Son Heung-min, challenged to score in 3 matches in A match against Egypt without Salah
Enter 2022.06.12 (12:17)
yunhap news
Son Heung-min (Tottenham), who became the first Asian player to become the top scorer in the English Premier League, will challenge for a goal in three consecutive matches against Egypt, the last opponent of four matches in a match in June.
The Korean national football team, led by coach Paulo Bento, will face Egypt at the Seoul World Cup Stadium at 8 pm on the 14th.
This day’s match against Egypt is the last match of four consecutive A matches to be held in June.
If the previous three matches were ‘South American-style mock exams’, imagining Uruguay, which will meet in the Qatar World Cup finals in November this year, such as Brazil (1-5), Chile (2-0 win), and Paraguay (2-2 draw), this time Egypt Jeon is also an evaluation match with Ghana in mind to meet in the World Cup finals.
The Korea Football Association (KFA) originally promoted Argentina, a South American country, for the match on the 14th, but failed due to Argentina’s circumstances.
Of course, there are many points out that ‘Ghana and Egypt are the same African countries, but their soccer style is completely different’.
It was evaluated that it had only the character of a ‘playing card’ of a match between Son Heung-min, who was co-scorer in the Premier League in the 2021-2022 season, and Mohammed Salah (Liverpool) of Egypt.
However, it is true that the purpose of the Korea-Egypt friendly match was somewhat faded as Salah could not play this match against Korea due to an injury.
The FIFA World Rankings are similar for Korea at 29th and Egypt at 32nd.
Their record so far is tight with 5 wins, 7 draws and 5 losses. The most recent match was a friendly match held in Seoul in 2005, when Korea lost 0-1.
Egypt is a country that frequently participated in the presidential cup international soccer tournaments in the 1980s and 1990s, and especially during the presidential cup in June 1987, tear gas to suppress protests around the stadium during the match with Korea was so severe that the match was suspended and the game ended in a 0-0 draw. There were also happenings.
If Korea wins this match, they will defeat Egypt for the first time in 21 years since the 2-1 victory in the LG Cup 4 nations friendly tournament held in Cairo, Egypt in 2001.
Korea lost 1-5 to Brazil on the 2nd, but won 2-0 against Chile on the 6th. On the 10th, they were drawn 0-2 against Paraguay and drew 2-2.
In the 7th minute of the second half, one player was sent off and the defense allowed 7 goals to Brazil and Paraguay, except for Chile, where 10 people fought, and the defense is pointed out as a problem.
Kim Min-jae (Fenerbahce), the core of the defense, is out with an injury, and midfielder Jung Woo-young (Al Sadd) is also out of the line due to muscle injuries in his left ankle and shin.
Son Heung-min, who scored consecutive free kicks against Chile and Paraguay, is aiming for a goal in three games in a row.
Son Heung-min, who became the first Korean player to score free kicks in two consecutive matches in A match, has scored 33 goals in 101 matches in A match so far.
If Son Heung-min scores a free-kick goal against Egypt on the same day, he will be tied for the highest free-kick score in a match by a Korean player.
The first place in this category is Ajou University manager Ha Seok-joo, who scored four free-kick goals in Match A, and Son Heung-min has scored three goals from free-kicks so far.
Son Heung-min scored six goals in two consecutive matches in A Match, and has yet to score in three consecutive matches.
Egypt, which arrived in Korea on the 12th, lost 0-2 to Ethiopia (FIFA ranking 140th) in the qualifier for the Africa Cup of Nations held in Malawi on the 9th.
Egypt, led by manager Ihab Galal (Egypt), will also miss Omar Marmushi (Stuttgart), who appeared as a starting striker against Ethiopia on the 9th, while Salah is out due to an injury.
According to the Egyptian newspaper Egypt Today, in addition to Salah and Marmushi, Muhammad Elneni (Arsenal), Ahmed Heghazi (Al-Tihad), Hamdi Fati (Al-Ahli), Imam Ashor (Zamalek), Mohammed Abdelmonem (Al-Ahli), Ayman Asiraf (Al-Ahli) and Ahmed Patou (Zamalek) are excluded.
Among them, Marmushi, Ashor, and Asiraf were the starting players against Ethiopia.
Egypt Today said, “Galal, who took over the leadership of the Egyptian national team in April, should do well in this match against Korea. We will discuss his future.”
After finishing the match against Egypt on that day, Bentuho will play two more matches in September and then advance to the Qatar World Cup finals in November.
[사진 출처 : 연합뉴스]