"'18 year old high school winger' Yang Min-hyuk failed to debut in the A match...With Lee Han-beom Choi Woo-jin 'Excluding Entries'
Sep 05, 2024
|
|
South Korea's A national team, led by head coach Hong Myung-bo, will play the first Group B match against Palestine in the third Asian qualifying round for the 2026 North-China World Cup at Seoul World Cup Stadium at 8 p.m. on the 5th. South Korea's FIFA ranking is 23rd and Palestine 96th. The third qualifying round is the final qualifying round. The Hong Myung-ho was organized in Group B along with Iraq, Jordan, Oman, Palestine, and Kuwait. In the third qualifying round, 18 teams will be divided into three groups of six teams and play a full league home and away. A total of six teams, ranked first and second in each group, will win tickets to the World Cup finals.
The match against Palestine was the beginning of the journey to North Korea and the U.S. and Hong Myung-bo's debut in the `Second.' Coach Hong played his first game as the best lineup. All three European leaders came forward. Joo Min-kyu (Ulsan) is at the forefront, and Son Heung-min and Lee Jae-sung (Mines) Lee Kang-in are at the second line. Hwang In-beom and Jung Woo-young (Ulsan), who confirmed Feyenoord's transfer, were in the midfield. Seol Young-woo (Zvezda), Kim Young-kwon (Ulsan), Kim Min-jae and Hwang Moon-ki (Gangwon) made the four-back. This is Hwang Moon-ki's A-match debut. Cho Hyun-woo (Ulsan) defended the goal. Hwang Hee-chan (Wolverhampton), Um Ji-sung (Swansea City), and Oh Se-hoon (Machida) started from the bench.
Yang Min-hyuk, who had high expectations, was excluded from the list of 23. Yang Min-hyuk drew the most attention on the list. He appeared in the K-League like Hyesung in the 2024 season. He took his first step as a semi-professional player and broke all the Gangwon club's consecutive records. Last month, he confirmed his transfer to Tottenham in the English Premier League (EPL), the `big league of dreams.' He will join Tottenham in January next year. Yang Min-hyuk's dream of playing in 29 K-League games and scoring eight goals and five assists has become a reality.
At the age of 18 years and 132 days, Yang Min-hyuk was ranked 13th in the list of the youngest national team selection. He was ahead of Son Heung-min (18 years and 152 days old). If he played in the match against Palestine, he could also break the record of Son Heung-min (18 years and 175 days), who ranked fifth in the youngest category in history, making his A-match debut. Yang Min-hyuk "I want to be bold and not intimidated just because I'm young. I want to appeal to the best of dribbling and finishing skills using speed" showed confidence.
However, the important first game, Hong's choice was an experience rather than a young one. Yang Min-hyuk and Lee Han-beom (Mit Willan) and Choi Woo-jin (Incheon) have excluded three of the four new faces from the entry.
vanbasten@sportschosun.com
