Hong Myung-bo makes history of advancing to World Cup finals for 11 consecutive away matches in Iraq
Hong Myung-bo makes history of advancing to World Cup finals for 11 consecutive away matches in Iraq
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Hong Myung-bo is aiming to advance to the World Cup finals for the 11th consecutive time at the expense of Iraq.
The national soccer team, led by head coach Hong Myung-bo, will play its ninth Group B match against Iraq at 3:15 a.m. on the 6th (Korea time) at Basra International Stadium in Iraq.
Korea has four wins and four draws (16 points) in Group B, leading the group by beating over second-ranked Jordan (13 points) and third-ranked Iraq (12 points). If the group ties with Iraq, it can win a ticket to directly advance to the finals, which can be given to the second-ranked team in the group.
If the team qualifies for the finals, it will be the 11th consecutive World Cup event since the 1986 Mexico Championship. Including the 1954 Swiss Championship, which was its first event, it was the 12th in its career.
In order to achieve a great achievement, he must fill at least one point in a tricky away trip to Iraq.
Korea is leading Iraq by a large margin in matches with 10 wins, 12 draws and two losses. In the third qualifying round for the World Cup, which was held in October last year, Korea beat Iraq 3-2 by scoring goals from Oh Se-hoon (Machida Zelvia), Oh Hyun-kyu (Henk), and Lee Jae-sung (Mainz).
However, in the semifinals of the 2007 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup, they lost the penalty shootout after drawing 120 minutes, including overtime, 0-0.
It is the first time in 35 years that Korea has gone on an away match in Iraq since a friendly match (0-0 draw) in Baghdad in 1990.
Iraq has changed from eight months ago. Jesus Casas was replaced and Graham Arnold, former coach of the Australian national team, was appointed. The match against Korea is Arnold's debut as a coach for Iraq.
Arnold has experience against South Korea. When he was leading the Australian national team in February last year, he bullied South Korea with his strong defense in the quarterfinals of the 2023 Asian Cup.
South Korea came from behind to win 2-1 at the time when Son Heung-min won a penalty just before the end of the second half.
Now, coach Arnold, who has taken the helm of Iraq, has been conducting joint training with the team since a week ago and is making efforts to identify players and check their organizational skills through his own Cheongbaek match.
Under Casas, Iraq was a team with strong pressure and counterattack, but Arnold is a coach who values side breakthrough and organizational power, so team color changes are inevitable.
In addition, if Iraq beats South Korea, it will be close to advancing to the finals for the first time in 40 years since 1986, and the motivation is considerable. 먹튀검증
Coach Hong Myung-bo remained vigilant, saying, "We need to prepare and prepare well for this part, as the opponent changes his coach and there are new players."
At the same time, he did not hide his confidence, saying, "Iraq is strong at home, but we are not losing in the Middle East expedition despite difficulties."