Bento coach, Lee Kang-in, who called after 1 year and 6 months, never hired him
‘Stubborn’ Paulo Bento, coach of the Korean national football team, gave a ‘small but big change’ in the final mock exam he took ahead of the 2022 Qatar World Cup, instilling tension in the Taegeuk Warriors.
In the evaluation match against Cameroon held at the Seoul World Cup Stadium on the 27th, Bentuho won 1-0 by keeping Son Heung-min (Tottenham)’s winning goal in the 35th minute of the first half.
This match was the last A match that Bentuho could digest by calling overseas players ahead of the Qatar World Cup.
One more evaluation match can be played before leaving for Qatar in November, but in this case, there is a high possibility that the match will be played only with domestic players.
Bento made the unexpected choice to set Hwang In-beom (Olympiacos) and Son Jun-ho (Shandong Taishan) as ‘double volante’.
Coach Bento has been using the ‘one volante’ tactic of placing only one player in the position of a defensive midfielder, and set up a ‘big’ Woo-Young Jung (Al Sadd) in his place.
Jung Woo-young is a player who shows strength in his ‘holding’ ability, which serves as the first line of defense against the opponent’s attack in front of the defensive line.
However, in other areas, such as the accuracy of the forward pass, it received a rather poor evaluation.
Son Jun-ho is a more versatile player than Jung Woo-young.
Son Jun-ho, who was originally a strong offensive player, played as a defensive midfielder for Jeonbuk Hyundai in the 2020 season and took the lead in the team’s K-League 1 championship and won the MVP award.
He was trained by Jeonbuk coach Kim Sang-sik, who played an active role as a ‘luxury defensive midfielder’ in the past, and was reborn as a ‘complete midfielder’.
After moving to the Chinese stage, Son Jun-ho has been active as an elite midfielder in the Super League.
Director Bento’s choice of Son Jun-ho instead of Jung Woo-young deserves to be evaluated as a success for this day.
Thanks to Son Jun-ho, who has a good pass, Hwang In-beom, who played the role of the starting point of the attack, relieved the burden.
It was also impressive to see Son Jun-ho falling between Kim Min-jae (Olympiacos) and Kwon Kyung-won (Gamba Osaka) to form a three-back during the attack.
This made it easier for left and right fullbacks Kim Jin-soo and Kim Moon-hwan (above Jeonbuk) to join the attack.
Han Jun-hee, commentator of KBS, evaluated this tactic positively, but said, “The key is how quickly the transition to four-back is implemented when defending.
If you don’t, the flank defense can become unstable at any time.”
The ‘little’ Woo-Young Jung (Freiburg) starting card used in the evaluation match against Chile in June was also a notable choice.
Heung-Min Son stood at the top and Woo-Young Jung was placed behind him, and Ui-Jo Hwang (Olympiacos), who was the ‘built-in one-top’ of the Bentuho, started the game from the bench.
Jung Woo-young is a player who boasts a level of activity comparable to that of Park Ji-sung (now Jeonbuk advisor) in his prime.
On that day, Jung Woo-young ran between the front line, Son Heung-min and the third line, tormenting the opposing midfielders.
He was active in carrying the ball, and he worked harder on defense than the defense.
When the first half was over, Woo-Young Jung’s uniform was covered in dirt as if he had played 120 minutes until overtime.
Cameroon was a sparring partner aimed at Ghana, which Korea pointed to as the ‘one-win offering’.
There is a possibility that Bento’s choice on this day is a de facto ‘Plan A’.
Hwang Ui-jo and ‘big’ Woo-young Jung, who were both ranked first when choosing a player with a clear position in the Bento system, are the choices that make them nervous.
Woo-young ‘big’ was substituted for Jun-ho Son in the 27th minute of the second half of the day, and Ui-jo Hwang was substituted for Woo-young ‘small’ at the same time, but was substituted 10 minutes later due to an unexpected injury.
On the other hand, even after coach Bento called Kang-in Lee (Mallorca), who had been active in La Liga in Spain, to the national team again after a year and six months, criticism is likely to be strong for the fact that he did not use it at all in the two matches against Costa Rica and this time against Cameroon.
One member said, “It is the manager’s authority to appoint players and choose tactics, but it is regrettable that Kang-in Lee, who can make an unpredictable attack at a desperate moment, did not receive an opportunity at all.”
/yunhap news