The second Hong Myung-bo won for the first time since its departure, but it still exposed many complementary points.
The South Korean national soccer team, led by head coach Hong Myung-bo, beat Oman 3-1 with Son Heung-min (Tottenham Hotspur), who scored one goal and two assists in the second Group B match of the third Asian qualifying round for the 2026 FIFA World Cup held at Muscat Sultan Qaboos Stadium in Oman on the 10th (Korea time).
Korea (score point 4), which had only a draw in the first match against Palestine, secured its first victory after entering the third preliminary round. It also tasted the first win since the second leg of the Hong Myung-bo team.
Compared to the match against Palestine, which ended in a draw, Hong made changes to the five starting positions. During offense and defense, Oh Se-hoon (Machida Zelvia), Hwang Hee-chan (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Park Yong-woo (Al Ain), Lee Myung-jae (Ulsan HD), and Jung Seung-hyun (Alwasl) were newly named.
Hwang Hee-chan’s first goal, which came 10 minutes after the start of the match, seemed to imply that the team was different this time. Hwang Hee-chan’s first goal failed to display momentum. He displayed frustration as he struggled with deployment work in attack, and struggled with opponent team pressure in defense, just as he did in the game against Palestine. On top of that, he even made frequent pass mistakes to pass the ball, handing over the flow.
While the precarious situation continued, he even lost a point. Jung Seung-hyun’s own goal in the free kick situation in the first half allowed the tie.
The situation did not change much in the second half. Lee Kang-in (Paris Saint-Germain) made consecutive shots in the 14th and 15th minutes of the second half, but he turned away from the post. Since then, he has failed to create any significant opportunities. Son Heung-min and Hwang Hee-chan have become increasingly difficult to see, and rather, they were relieved by Oman’s counterattack.
At the 23rd minute of the second half, he deployed Hwang Mun-ki (Kangwon FC), who has good connection with crosses, to remove Oh Se-hoon, a tall striker. Naturally, the right flanker who used Hwang Mun-ki became more active, but there was no one to accept his cross. Hong put more numbers on the Omani team and put more weight on its offense, but nothing much changed.
In the end, it was the personal skills of Son Heung-min and Lee Kang-in that saved the national team on the edge of the cliff. In the 37th minute of the second half, Son Heung-min and Lee Kang-in made progress little by little through the connection. Lee Kang-in then handed over the pass to Son Heung-min after peeling off two opposing defenders. Son Heung-min overcame the competition with the opposing defender to create a shooting space and blew the frustration with a fantastic left-footed shot.
The team was criticized for lacking tactics at the 2023 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Qatar Asian Cup under Jurgen Klinsmann’s leadership. Nevertheless, it was the outstanding players’ individual skills that advanced the semifinal match. This was the reason why they were sarcastically called “play soccer for me.” However, even that ended with a bitter ending by showing limitations. 메이저사이트
Even though they have two matches since taking the helm, they have little leeway. They immediately started the third qualifying round, and have less time left until the finals. As Hong was highly evaluated for his tactical capabilities during the K-League, he should display his skills quickly. However, he seems to have no direction much different from that of Klinsmann’s system so far.