Korean captain Son Heung-min remains questionable for his team’s next friendly match against Vietnam on Tuesday, head coach Jurgen Klinsmann said on the eve of the contest.Korea, ranked 26th, will host No. 95 Vietnam at Suwon World Cup Stadium in Suwon, south of Seoul, at 8 p.m. Tuesday. At his prematch presser at the stadium, Klinsmann said Son and midfielder Hwang In-beom are “two little question marks.”
Both players sat out Korea’s previous friendly against Tunisia in Seoul last Friday. Son had been nursing a groin injury and had been a limited participant in training before Friday. Hwang was initially in the starting lineup but was removed just minutes before kickoff after suffering a left adductor injury during warmup.Korea beat Tunisia 4-0 without the two mainstays.
“We’ll test (the players) in a training session this afternoon, and after training, we’ll know a bit more,” Klinsmann said. “The team played very well against Tunisia and we’d like to continue this way.” Given the huge discrepancy in their FIFA ranking positions, Korea are expected to dominate Vietnam, with or without Son and Hwang. The Korea Football 스포츠 Association has faced some criticism for scheduling a friendly against a seemingly overmatched team, at a time when Korea should face better teams in preparation for the World Cup qualifiers in November and the Asian Football Confederation Asian Cup in Qatar in January.
But Klinsmann said Vietnam are “not a weak opponent” and it was important to play other Asian teams as the Asian Cup approaches.”This is the last test we can have before we start the World Cup qualifying and go to Qatar,” the coach said. “We think we know quite a lot about Vietnam and it’s a good test for us.”Klinsmann said he has been pleased with the way his players have been learning more about what he and his staff demand, and also the way they have been building their own chemistry and team spirit.
