A solid Australian side The proportion of side defenders became more important

Republic of Korea Kim Tae-hwan

Korea, attempting to win the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup for the first time in 64 years, will meet Australia in the quarterfinals. In order to overcome the difficult situation, aggressive support from both fullbacks is essential.

The Korean national soccer team, led by coach Jurgen Klinsmann, will play the 2023 AFC Asian Cup quarterfinals against Australia at Al Janoub Stadium in Al Wakrah, Qatar, at 0:30 a.m. on the 3rd (Korean time).

The Australian national team in this tournament is not showing much destructive power in attack. However, their defensive organization is solid, with only one goal conceded in four games until the round of 16.

In particular, the abilities of the side defenders are top-notch. Left side defender Aziz Behic and right side defender Getin Jones showed stable defense in the previous games and rarely gave the opponent a chance.

In order to break through Australia's strong side, the role of the side defenders who work together with the left and right side attackers is important.

Korea has wingers on the left and right sides who are recognized in the world's top leagues, such as Hwang Hee-chan (Wolverhampton) and Lee Kang-in (Paris Saint-Germain). However, there are limits to how he can break through Australia's strong side alone. Even in previous games, he was unable to fully show his individual skills due to the opponent's intensive control.

Therefore, in order to attack Australia, active offensive support from fullbacks is essential. In previous games, Korea had scored dramatic goals through bold overlapping by the side defenders.

In the second game of the group stage against Jordan, right-back Kim Tae-hwan (Jeonbuk) broke through the right side and passed the ball to the other side at the end of the game when the game was tied 1-2. Son Heung-min (Tottenham) caught this and connected it to Hwang In-beom (Zvezda), who was running from behind, and even made a shot. Hwang In-beom's shot was deflected off the defender's body, leading to the equalizer.

In the round of 16 match against Saudi Arabia, at the end of the game, Kim Tae-hwan passed a long ball with his left foot from the right side, and Seol Young-woo (Ulsan), a defender on the other side, sent it to the goal with a header. Cho Gyu-seong (Midtjylland) headed the ball into the goal, dramatically turning the game to 1-1.

It is also nice to see the return of Kim Jin-soo (Jeonbuk), who has abundant experience and outstanding skills, ahead of a game in which the fullbacks will be very important.

Coach Klinsmann also said, “Jinsu Kim is digesting team training normally. It took a long time to recover, but there are no major problems now. “We will consider how to use him after discussing with the medical staff,” he said, adding, “He could be given a lot of playing time,” and looked forward to Kim Jin-soo’s performance against Australia.

If Kim Jin-su joins, it will be easier to use Kim Tae-hwan and Seol Young-woo, who played 120 minutes against Saudi Arabia and are under a lot of physical strain. 19가이드03