🇲🇽 vs. 🇰🇷 - Getting the Korean perspective on Saturday's friendly
Soccer Twitter's Korean friend Steve Han stops by to preview the match.
Fan of the USMNT or Panama? We’ll preview that game later this weekend with an expert from Panama! Fan of a different team? Maybe next year!
Mexico and South Korea meet Saturday for the first time since 2018 in Rostov-on-Don. After that match, El Tri was on top of the world. They beat Germany. They beat Korea. Fans were literally singing the praises of manager Juan Carlos Osorio in the streets.
And then they weren’t. A shellshocked Mexico team was drilled by Sweden but still made it out of the group thanks to a pair of stoppage-time goals by Korea in Kazan, beating Germany and sending Sweden through as group winners and Mexico through as runners-up.
This year’s edition won’t be as exciting as anything that happened in Russia. I promise. But even in these strange pandemic times, there are things to watch for and things we can learn.
If you’re still reading, you probably know what to expect from Mexico but may not have a great handle on Korea. Luckily, I asked my friend Steve Han, an LA-based expert on the Korea national team, to give us some insight and he was happy to oblige. Read on to find out which Mexico players will have a field day, how Korea will line up and if Korea feels solidarity with Mexico after those street parties that erupted in 2018.
We know where Mexico is at, but what's the general 'vibe' around the national team for Korea? I get the idea that it's sort of similar to El Tri with a fair amount of consistency and carry-over from the last cycle, but what will Paulo Bento want to learn about his team Saturday?
It’s hard to say what the vibe is like for this game, because Korea hasn’t played an official game since December of last year when they beat Japan 1-0 with a squad without their players based in Europe.
The last time they played with their full strength team was exactly a year ago in November 2018 when they lost 3-0 to Brazil. The team was under a lot of scrutiny at the time as their performances were underwhelming in the second round Asian qualifying. Even though they have a game in hand, they’re currently second behind Turkmenistan in Group H, which is disappointing.
That being said, the players themselves, and the fans, are just relieved at this point to see the national team back in action again after a year. A few weeks ago, I spoke to Hwang In-beom, one of the players who’s likely to start against Mexico, and he talked about how much he misses playing for Korea. For a lot of the Korean players based in Europe, national team fixtures are something of a stress relief for them as it’s a chance for them to train and hang out with friends who speak their own language.
A lot of fans criticize Bento for selecting players based in Europe for friendlies when the World Cup is still far away, saying that the amount of travel puts the players at risk, but if you speak to the players, they actually enjoy playing for the national team more than their day to day at their respective clubs. They did play Korea U-23 last month with only K League players in a pair of friendlies, but the purpose of those games was more to test new players to expand squad depth.
This Mexico game will likely be an opportunity for Bento to check his best players against a strong opposition, although Korea’s back line at the moment is completely depleted. Regardless, Bento will still have his best midfielders and forwards in every position.
How does this Korea team want to play? What's the usual setup and is that what we'll likely see against Mexico?
Bento is more or less wedded to a possession-based, 4-2-3-1 formation with the two wide midfielders constantly coming inside and fullbacks pushing forward to add width to the attack.
What’s unique about Korea under Bento compared to teams in the past is that they’re more patient in their build-up, whereas most of the managers in the past primarily focused on maximizing Korea’s speed, which has traditionally been an attribute that defined the identity of Korean football. Under Bento, Korea has been playing far more laterally in their style of passing and dominating possession, trying to find openings in the opposition block.
Central midfielders like Jung Woo-young and Hwang In-beom play key roles in this system, as they’re the ones who are tasked with hitting diagonal passes to switch the direction of play to open up the game for Korea after a series of short passes to create overloads on one side to attract the opposition defense.
In and around the final third, it’s Son Heung-min who often plays the role of a playmaker between the lines, which is a role that he’s struggled with, as he has always been more effective when playing as a finisher rather than creator.
Who are some of the players Korea fans are most excited about?
Son is obviously a superstar in Korea, so any game with him on the pitch is a big showcase for the public over there.
Aside from him, Lee Kang-in is the up-and-coming star, and most general fans expect him to become Korea’s next big name player to follow the footsteps of Cha Bum-kun, Park Ji-sung and Son.
Ironically, Lee’s professional career is still in its infancy at Valencia, and Bento has yet to make him an established player for Korea, as he has only provided the 19-year-old with limited playing time. Perhaps this game against Mexico will be the start of a new phase for Korea with him in the starting lineup, as he has been playing more regularly this season in La Liga.
Any big omissions from this roster? I know the Asian Champions League has caused a few guys to miss out, can you tell us about them?
All four of Korea’s defenders across the back four are missing. Central defenders Kim Young-gwon, the vice captain who scored the famous winner against Germany in 2018, and Kim Min-jae, who was linked with a move to Tottenham and Lazio this past summer, are both unavailable as their clubs refused to release them for precautionary reasons due to the pandemic. Right back Lee Yong sustained a long term injury, and left back Kim Jin-su was recently tested positive for COVID-19. Korea’s No. 1 goalkeeper Kim Seung-gyu is also missing as his club in Japan refused to release him.
All of these absences will inevitably force Bento to play a top heavy lineup with second string players filling every position across the backline.
Where are the problem areas for Korea and will Mexico be able to exploit them?
Even if Korea had all of their first-choice defenders, both fullback positions are weaknesses for them, especially when defending in transition. Chucky Lozano and Tecatito Corona are both two of the quickest, skillful wingers in Europe’s top five leagues, and they should be able to either beat Korea’s full-backs 1-v-1 or get in behind them fairly easily.
And then there is Raul Jimenez, who would’ve been a tall order for Korea’s first choice central defenders (Kim Young-gwon and Kim Min-jae are two of the best defenders that Korea has had in a long time), but with Won Du-jae, who’s naturally a midfielder and Kwon Kyung-won, a backup, likely to start, Mexico should be able to score at least a goal or two past Korea or else it should be a disappointment for them.
Mexico still jokes about the brotherhood with Korea felt since the win against Germany put El Tri through in the 2018 World Cup. Having translated an interview with Luis Hernandez for you, I know Korea sees Mexico as something as a thorn in its side, so I imagine that didn't change after 2018 but are there jokes or memes or anything about this matchup?
Some Korean fans still hold a grudge after Mexico failed to beat Sweden at the World Cup in 2018, because a win for Mexico in that game would’ve sent Korea through to the last 16.
That being said, Mexico is a team that fans and media alike in Korea look up to, because they’re viewed as a country with a wealth of skillful players and a solid domestic league.
As much as Mexico struggles with getting to the “fifth game” at the World Cup time after time, the goal for Korea at every World Cup is to get to the “fourth game,” which Mexico has been able to do for decades now. Some Korean fans even believe that Mexico should be a role model for Korea for always finding a way to advance from the group stage.
As frustrated as Mexico fans may be about the obsession over the quinto partido, they should remember that there are teams like Korea that would love to be in their position.
Big, big thanks to Steve for taking time to give us such in-depth analyisis of Korea. Make sure you give him a follow on Twitter @RealSteveScores for more where that came from, plus cogent arguments about other elements of the beautiful game.
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