"Korean-German Mixed Race" Castrop Season Out, No presence of Jung Ho-yeon entering the U.S....Hong Myung Bo-ho, "Three-term volunteer. Where are you?"
"Korean-German Mixed Race" Castrop Season Out, No presence of Jung Ho-yeon entering the U.S....Hong Myung Bo-ho, "Three-term volunteer. Where are you?"
Blog Article
In modern soccer, which is changing rapidly, defensive midfielders and third-tier players play the role of skeleton of tactics. This means that top-class players are precious. Not only clubs but also national teams play the same role.
"Hong Myung-bo" is no exception. Hwang In-beom (Feyenoord) and Park Yong-woo (Al Ain) have been the main players of the national soccer team since Hong Myung-bo took the helm last year. However, it is not easy to find a substitute or competitor for them.
Coach Hong, who is set to play the 9th and 10th rounds of the third Asian qualifying round for the 2026 North-China World Cup with Iraq (away) and Kuwait (home) in June, is constantly working on a new puzzle while traveling to the K-League and other sites.
The position with deep concern is the third line. The team's sluggish performance with Oman and Jordan in March was also accompanied by the deterioration of its third-line resources. Hwang In-beom could not play in the match against Oman due to a calf injury. Baek Seung-ho (Birmingham City) came out as a substitute, but he could not melt into the tempo of the game. Rather, it was more effective when Lee Kang-in (Paris Saint-Germain), who plays as a winger, moved to the third line.
Like Lee Kang-in and Lee Jae-sung (Maints), they cannot afford to rely on second-tier players who can play as many as three-tier players. They need third-tier professional players. Notably, Park has made several mistakes in matches for the Korean national team, suffering from malicious comments from some fans. He basically protects his four-back and acts as a starting point for his attacks. Just as he was paired with Lee Gyu-seong (Suwon Samsung) during the Ulsan National Team, he acts as a "passenger" in the third term and displays a sense of stability when he is with a fast-paced partner. Hwang In-beom, however, is the best partner in the Korean national team. As he is serving the third term alone without a substitute, he is under considerable pressure. He also needs a "breathable space" as he follows criticism.
Realistically, there is no replacement for the problem. The likely candidate is Jens Kastrov, who has a German father and a Korean mother. With the central midfielder as his main position, he once joined the under-21 national team in Germany. Last winter, Hong's coaching staff met with Kastrov. Hong confirmed that Kastrov has the will to wear the national flag, but mentioned complicated procedures, and expressed his intention to proceed with the plan carefully. In recognition of his performance in the second part of Nuremberg, Hong confirmed his transfer to Mönchengladbach for the first part of the 2025-2026 season. He is classified as a resource that will satisfy the competitiveness of the national team to be selected for the third term. However, there were negative developments. Recently, he was "out for the season" due to torn ligament in his right knee in a match against Paderborn. His selection for the remaining matches in the World Cup qualifying round went up in smoke. 안전놀이터
Chung Ho-yeon (Minnesota United), who was considered as another substitute, has lost his presence. Having emerged as the league's top defensive midfielder during the K-League 1 Gwangju period, he advanced to the U.S. MLS stage last winter, but has yet to play in matches. Since he has lost much sense of play in actual matches, Hong cannot call on him. Unless resources that catch the eye suddenly emerge in the K-League, the team's third term operation will likely be limited for the time being.