The long awaited 26 man squad has been announced and while the core of the squad is unsurprising in the slightest, the exact picks and the positions Hong Myung Bo decided to reinforce the most will be the biggest talking points in the coming days.
GK: Jo Hyeon Woo (Ulsan HD), Kim Seung Gyu (FC Tokyo), Song Beom Keun (Jeonbuk Hyundai)
DF: Kim Min Jae (Bayern Munich), Lee Han Beom (FC Midtjylland), Park Jin Seob (Zhejiang FC), Kim Tae Hyeon (Kashima Antlers), Cho Yu Min (Sharjah FC), Lee Ki Hyeok (Gangwon FC) Seol Young Woo (FK Crvena Zvezda), Kim Moon Hwan (Daejeon Citizen), Lee Tae Seok (FK Austria Wien), Jens Castrop (Borussia Monchengladbach)
MF: Hwang In Beom (Feyenoord Rotterdam), Paik Seung Ho (Birmingham City FC), Kim Jin Gyu (Jeonbuk Hyundai), Lee Kang In (Paris Saint Germain), Bae Jun Ho (Stoke City), Eom Ji Sung (Swansea City), Lee Dong Gyeong (Ulsan HD), Yang Hyun Jun (Celtic FC), Lee Jae Sung (FSV Mainz), Hwang Hee Chan (Wolverhampton)
FW: Son Heung Min (LAFC), Oh Hyeon Gyu (Besiktas JK), Cho Gue Sung (FC Midtjylland)
Additional players like Oh Hyeon Gyu back in 2022 who traveled with the team and sat on the bench but did not get a jersey number: 19 year old goalkeeper Yoon Ki Wook of FC Seoul and Jeonbuk Hyundai duo Kang Sang Yoon (CM) and Cho Wi Je (CB/LB) will join the team for training but will not be on the pitch like OHG was in 2022.
Our initial reactions:
My framework for our squad was having two players as a lock for the WC in each position (except GK and FW with the usual 3, and CB with 5-6 for 2/3 spots), accounting for 23/26. In RB, it was always going to be Seol Young Woo and Kim Moon Hwan. In LB it was always going to be Jens and Lee Tae Seok. In RW we have Lee Kang In and Yang Hyun Jun; in LW we have Hwang Hee Chan and Lee Jae Sung. In the offensive CM side we have Hwang In Beom and his understudy Kim Jin Kyu. In the “more defensive” CM side we had injuries to Hong Myung Bo’s preferred players; thus only Paik Seung Ho was certain, while in CB, Kim Ju Sung’s injury called up Lee Ki Hyeok (who plays left footed CB, LB, or DM for Gangwon) as was widely rumored in the media prior to his confirmation, alongside the usual names in Kim Min Jae, Lee Han Beom, and Kim Tae Hyeon. Cho Yu Min’s mistakes against Ivory Coast (Hong Myung Bo directly threw him under the bus for that… so unprofessional) threw his inclusion into question (would’ve been extremely harsh especially considering Kim Ju Sung’s absence but it was being discussed in Korean media), but it turns out he made it, confirming that promising young Brentford / Kaiserslautern on loan CB Kim Ji Soo will have to wait until 2030 to make his World Cup debut. Tavern readers will know I’m personally a fan of Kim Ji Soo, and although he has admittedly been slow to come back to form since coming back from injury after a fantastic start to the season for Kaiserslautern, I still wonder if he could’ve been the better pick in CB.
Therefore, the only real question marks came in DM, and where the additional 3/26 players would come from. Would HMB go for a pure DM like Kwon Hyeok Kyu who directly could replace his favorite player in the whole wide world Park Yong Woo? Would he go for Park Jin Seob who can play both CB and DM? Would he go for more CM depth in Hong Hyeon Seok? And who among the second line of attackers he has been calling up recently (Eom, Bae, and Lee Dong Gyeong), who would he go for? Turns out … he went for all of them at the expense of additional CMs. If we count Park Jin Seob as a DM, all three of the additional players outside of my framework above came from AM/winger spots.
This was the most surprising point for me. I did not expect all the extra spots to go to the offensive positions considering our lack of depth in CM. Hwang In Beom’s injury situation is uncertain, and Kim Jin Kyu has not been very impressive as his replacement. I don’t think HMB sees Park Jin Seob nor Jens Castrop as DMs, which leaves a possibly injured HIB and two players who have been less than impressive for the KNT (i.e. better for club than country) in Kim Jin Kyu and Paik Seung Ho… as our entire CM base at least on paper. Unless you count Jens, Park Jin Seob, or even Lee Jae Sung / Lee Kang In (ok these last two are a stretch) as CMs. Hence why I expected either Kwon Hyeok Kyu or Hong Hyeon Seok or possibly even Kang Sang Yoon to round out the CM pool, but this does not seem to be the case. I really rate Bae Jun Ho, Eom Ji Sung, and Lee Dong Gyeong, don’t get me wrong, but I don’t see them as the kinds of players who can come on as a sub and just change the game. Players like them are common on the team. Guys like Hwang Hee Chan and Yang Hyun Jun or even Lee Seung Woo (lots of speculation recently about him possibly making the squad as well, not that I necessarily agree with it though) – I see as more unique and guys who can make a big impact off the bench.
If you are a massive Korean football nerd, thank you for reading through all that. Here’s my TLDR: this squad was extremely predictable. Only the usual names came up, except for one injury substitution that some Korean football watchers might not recognize. It’s a great squad for our standards, but at risk of throwing it all away due to managerial and organizational utter incompetence. I truly hope that the KFA hasn’t done so much damage as to throw away this golden opportunity and a golden-lite generation.
So exactly what we expected. Now all we can do is cheer the team on!
I too am worried about the midfield. But more importantly, I’m not sure if we have the right personnel for a 5 ATB. Not counting Kim Minjae, our CB talent pool drops off really hard after Lee Hanbeom
It seems Hwang In Beom is back in training at least, he has joined up with the team in Salt Lake City. Overall seems like HMB is going to go 3-4-3 doesn’t it..