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"I missed the chance to face Son Heung-min"...Vietnam, ranked 95th, even the proud ace is absent
The South Korean national soccer team, led by coach Jurgen Klinsmann, will play its second A match against Vietnam in October at Suwon World Cup Stadium on the 17th. Vietnam ranks 95th in the FIFA rankings and is also considered the lowest in Asia. It is the lowest FIFA ranking opponent since the launch of Klinsmann.
It is the first time in 32 years that South Korea has brought a Southeast Asian country to its home turf to hold an A-match warm-up match. The last match against Vietnam was the second qualifying round for the 2004 World Cup in Germany. It has been a long time since the 1974 Bangkok match in Thailand to have a friendly match against Vietnam.
It should get its own effect as it will compete with Vietnam in Korea, breaking the practice of not playing with Southeast Asian countries because there has been no real benefit in the evaluation match. The national team aims to win the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup in Qatar in January next year. It is expected that he will experience penetrating the dense defense by projecting a defensive team that can be met at this time to the current Vietnam.
In addition, since the second qualifying round for the 2026 North Korea-China U.S. World Cup will begin next month, it is the last opportunity to check the national team's various capacities ahead of the actual match. It can be a stage to see the competitiveness of bench resources away from the slightly fixed starting list from last month's away game in Europe to the recent match against Tunisia.
However, the key is how much the opponent will resist in the match against Vietnam, which will have a strong experimental nature. Vietnam's flow has been dampened after coach Philip Trussier took the helm. He lost all of his warm-up matches with China (0-2 loss) and Uzbekistan (0-2 loss) in China before moving to Korea.
Quang Hai, who was called the ace, will be absent here. Quang Hai is well known in Korea as coach Park Hang-seo's favorite student. He is a striker who scored 10 goals in 56 games for the Vietnamese national team. Last year, he joined Linz in France's second division and achieved his dream of entering Europe. Although he has returned to Vietnam now, he has shown dynamic advantages due to his small but individual skills.
But he can't play against Korea. Vietnamese media "Laodong" reported that the Vietnamese national team unpacked its luggage in Suwon and reported the news of its first training. Quang Hai reportedly was absent for treatment of calf muscles while training for the first time at Suwon Samsung Club House Practice Stadium. The media also expressed regret, saying, "As things stand, Quang Hai has missed the opportunity to face Son Heung-min."
Vietnam is showing great interest in whether superstar Son Heung-min will play or not. Son Heung-min, who took a break to prevent injury in the match against Tunisia, is likely to play against Vietnam for a short time.
Son Heung-min said, "I don't have any other greed, but I have a lot of greed for the game. "I want to play as much as I play in Korea."
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