The team is making a fuss from the start. The Klinsmann team, which is aiming for the top spot in the Asian Cup for the first time in 64 years, has been on the rise. The team announced its first round of call-up on Wednesday. Players who played in the second round of Asian qualifiers for the North-China-U.S. World Cup in November and China were also called to participate. The only change was the addition of center back Kim Joo-sung (FC Seoul), who was eliminated in November. Joo Min-kyu (Ulsan Hyundai), the “K-League’s top scorer,” was not selected again this time, as he was expected to replace Hwang Ui-jo (Norwich City), who was deprived of his national team status due to illegal filming and is uncertain about his participation in the Asian Cup.
Coach Jurgen Klinsmann emphasized continuity and continuity since the A-match in October. “The Qatar Asian Cup will be dominated by the existing members,” Klinsmann said. “I drew a picture of it to a certain extent. As we get closer to a major competition, continuity is more important. I hope that the eight to 10 players who will become the skeleton will go to the Asian Cup together without injury. This skeleton will not change.” When comparing the roster for October and November, there was no significant change except for the return of goalkeeper Song Bum-keun and the recruitment of Park Jin-seop (Jeonbuk Hyundai), who can fly between midfielder and center back.
Manager Klinsmann showed great trust in the existing members who had won consecutive games since October, and as expected, expressed his willingness to recruit them through the Asian Cup as well. The first round roster shows this well. Klinsmann has selected 11 K-leaguers, including Cho Hyun-woo, Kim Young-hyun, Kim Tae-hwan, Seol Young-woo (Ulsan), Moon Seon-min, Kim Jin-soo (Jeonbuk Hyundai), Lee Ki-je (Suwon Samsung) and Lee Soon-min (Gwangju FC). After the end of the season, Song Bum-keun of the J-League is on board, and players of European leagues are joining the team during the break. Germany’s Lee Jae-sung (Mainz) and Jung Woo-young (Stuttgart), Serbia’s Hwang In-beom (Zvezda) and Denmark’s Cho Kyu-sung (Mit Whelan). A total of 16 players will join the team.
The final entry will be announced later, with “Captain” Son Heung-min (Tottenham), Kim Min-jae (Bayern Munich), Hwang Hee-chan (Wolverhampton), Lee Kang-in (Paris Saint-Germain), Oh Hyun-kyu (Celtic), Hong Hyun-kyu (Hent), Kim Seung-kyu (Al-Shabab), and Park Yong-woo (Al-Ain) expected to be selected. All of them are core resources of the Klinsmann team. If all of them are selected, the total number of entries will be 24, including the first round of the convocation.
The problem is that the number of entries for the Qatar Asian Cup has increased from 23 to 26. In line with the global standard, the Asian Football Confederation has confirmed the entry of the tournament to 26, just like the last Qatar World Cup. In order for Klinsmann to comply with this regulation, it is inevitable to select at least two new faces. On top of that, this number could increase further if the call-up list is being trained in Korea, or if European or Middle Eastern players are injured before joining the national team. 온라인경마
However, Klinsmann did not choose a new face on the list. As for K-Leaguers, they have finished a long season and are now taking a break. If K-Leaguers are not included in the call-up list, they will be virtually impossible to select due to their physical conditions. Some even say that Klinsmann can play in the competition without filling all 26 players. A source in the Korean national team said, “There has been a preliminary list every time the list has been announced. It has just not been made public,” adding, “It is up to the coach to decide whether to select all 26 players, but there will be no reason why he cannot select players.”
If Klinsmann fills all the entries, it is likely that he will fill the remaining positions with young resources playing in Europe. According to the report, some players have already submitted related documents to the national team.